Lers,
  Digest this piece, It was sent to list by Alpha Robinson in Feb of
1998.
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Some reflections on independence day

What Independence
When after 33 years
We are still battling with poverty
Material poverty
Spiritual poverty
Poverty of will
What Independence
When after 35 years we own not our minds
Our souls and our bodies
What independence
When the birth of a child
Becomes a source of worry
When the death of a family member
Triggers cold trickles of rejoice
When we rejoice instead of crying
And cry instead of rejoicing
What independence
When after 35 years
Masquerading is a prerequisite for survival
When men and women no longer own their conscience
When the educated become gagged maimed and sterile
And intelligence amounts to opportunism
When justice is murdered in cold blood
While we sing dance and rejoice
The same dances
The same parades
What independence
When honesty truthfulness and integrity
Become the enemy of a people
When parents send their children to steal rape and kill
What independence
When young people have to leave their motherland
Their beloved one
Uprooted and already defeated
In search of life
When we fail to provide opportunities for our children
To learn grow and live
What independence
When the cracks on farmers feet
The marks of poverty on our clothes and skin
Keep haunting us after 33 years
When we mortgage our souls and future in international markets
When we live on the crumbs
Leftover by other nations
When leaders still play God with the innocent
When keeping our people ignorant
Seems to be our greatest achievement
What independence
When egoism becomes self-righteous
When the rich and the poor of today
Stand at opposite end of the widening valley
While the mixture of blood and tears of our very own
Meanders into the common future of destitution
What independence
When clean potable water
The most basic requirement of life
Is a luxury to many
When the best curable diseases
Claim their daily quota on our children
Well before they are born
When parents can no longer be proud of their children
And children can no longer be proud of their parents
For being just and honest
Seems to be a luxury denied by poverty and corruption
What independence are we celebrating?


By Alpha Robinson
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