Colour Blind

I was considered intelligent

So was snatched from my mother and enrolled in school

I was flagged

Forced out of school I joined the Pseudo-Student Council

Where the Reformists picked Ivory from Ebony

Ivory pleased themselves while Ebony was left without shelter

The Reformists were threatened by me

So I was monitored and seized

I fell a foe with Rogue whose criticism of my work was purely racist

Encouraged by necessity did I join South African Movement

The Reformists were joyous for they thought Ebony supported their schemes

I pushed from behind the bars I was caged in

And with the strength of the pen did I achieve my proclamation

The declaration of ‘our’ Pseudo-Leader

That Ebony deserved no rights rang loud

The Pseudo-Student Council connived

So Ebony and I were prevented from attendance

And I was given the Executioners’ dungeons as residence

Never had I a chance at interrogation

For I received damage to the brain

Since their questions came as torture

I left Pseudo-Student Council and took Ebony with me

Together we formed the Black Student Council

I experienced hitches on the way

Most of which comprised of Executioners’ violence

But I gave them the fight they deserved

I was Anglican

But I despised the mindset of the portion of Ebony that mimicked Ivory and its partners

For they disrespected the Maker who blessed them with abundant melanin

Ivory often disregarded the Christian film with the Ebony cast

For they believed that Christ looked like them

Often bypassing the film's emphasis on morality

Ivory concentrated their arrogance towards Ebony’s ‘misconduct’

They failed to realize that Ebony’s source of livelihood was stolen from them by none other than Ivory

While I fueled on the ride to Ebony’s freedom

The people of My Hometown perished in the mines

Ivory discovered the gifts given us from our Maker

Thus Ebony was forced to submit to Ivory

The Executioners manhandled Ebony for calling strike

Their freedom was robbed from them and given them in crumbs called ‘The Pass’

When Ebony freed themselves from their bondage

The Executioners would place them behind the bars of the Executioners’ own dungeons

I never took sides for I had my own side

Unlike those Reformists I believed in connecting with the soul

I despised riches and luxury

For Ebony and I could not attain them

I bore the accusations of those who called me a philanderer

For ‘diversifier’ was my favorite term

Rogue referred to me as an ‘entitled womanizer’

I disagree for diversifier was my favorite term

The Pseudo-Student Council arrogantly teased me for my varying taste in women

It was certain that their eyes had been blinded to the racism on their own part

Ebony was agitated

But the Reformists and Executioners were nothing but brutal

They tried to engulf and remold Slavetown

But Slavetown’s Ebony resisted

The Reformists infiltrated the Slavetown Schools

Forcing them to speak the language of their colonizers

And when the lads and lasses resisted

The Executioners were ignited and ricocheted into Slavetown

The lives of many were terminated - both young and old

Ebony was turned against itself

The Reformists and Executioners slouched as the different tribes of My Hometown clashed swords

The scheme of the power hungry had reached its climax

I spotted my wave sheaf in the midst of uncertainty

But I could not reach her

So I resolved to my many options

Numerous times did I join contests of who lay with the most women

Numerous times did I win those contests I finally reached my wave sheaf

But it was too late because I was indulged in my variety

I indulged so much that I begat my offspring from two of them

My wave sheaf could no longer bear the sight of me

She left a vacuum in my heart as she fled our abode

She had begun to legalize our separation

But she did not start early enough

For I was gone before she

The Woman worked with me for most of my life

We left Pseudo-Student Council together

She risked her being by harboring banned words of wisdom

Suppressed with absurd charges

She held her head high

I also worked with The Exiled

The Reformists constricted The Exiled’s work

Being the determined man he was

He completed his education to the last lap

And ignored the wrangles of the childish Reformists

I was made the president of the Black Student Council though I opposed this imposition

I was elected into The Council despite my neutrality

Against all odds I was pinned to the proclamation ‘Black is Beautiful’

My loyalty and support saw to the birth of National Prison Palliative

I willed my life to be in like manner to that of The Man

The Man began his journey as a mere principal

His life attracted many speculations that threatened his foundation

Outrightly denied of his offer to serve

He authored many books that exposed his despise for apartheid

He had wished for Ivory and Ebony to be miscible

There was also The Other Man

I resembled an ant beside him

Two decades after my repose he reflected on my life

He echoed my philosophy and reverberated them to the minds of his listeners

He is the Father of My Homeland

The Bishop impacted my life as well as the life of my contemporaries

He was the bishop of an Anglican church

Holding his position in the faith and resisting the threats of the Reformists

He used this opportunity to influence the lives of Ebony

Being the daring fugitive

I spent four years alternating my abode with the Executioners’ dungeons

The Reformists even attempted to confine me to a single town

My planned exile failed

The leader of an association caught my eye

So I bypassed my confinement with a qabane to pay the leader a visit

Alas the leader would not see us for fear of the Reformists and Executioners

Interrupting my plans to return to my confinement

The Executioners spotted we, the maqabane

I saw my qabane no more

Quickly did the events unfold in anticipation of my interrogation

Denied of my clothing as the Executioners questioned me

Bearing the deep etch in my brain I survived my first hemorrhage

Behold the time of my repose is nigh

Though the means of my arrival is all but peaceful

My explicit scars and agony were invisible to the eyes of the Executioners

Again denied of my clothing as is their manner

I endured my last hemorrhage

Only three decades of my existence I spent on this treacherous land

My life did not attract as many spectators as my repose does

Different perspectives of the image of my face are transported far and wide I am made Father

The books and songs in my memory are first terminated by the Reformists

Rogue lately becomes my close friend

And he raises funds to produce a pristine bronze statue of me

Of course it was vandalised

At the onset of the second millennia

A lecture held in memory of me

The speakers came from My Hometown and fellow African countries like Nigeria

I am referred to as a spark

Though not as celebrated as my contemporaries

Yet our collective ideas are super-imposable

My life may seem to have been stolen so the Reformists could thicken the already thinning demarcation between Ivory and Ebony

But my philosophy has disabled the rods from the eyes of the people

I am Stephen Bantu Biko

And I made the people colour blind