Brother Mo, A wonderful and captivating poem depicting a classic Banjulian growing-up experience. The resonance of the poem with the key highlights of the Banjul landscape i.e "azure skies", "saline mangroves"; the cultural aspects i.e "pakin", "Ifangbondi" plus "Hemamalini" symbolising the dominance of bollywood movies during that era; and the historical aspect, "slave ships", "English greed", in my view, all makes it an attractive multi-dimensional depiction of growing up in Banjul, capital city of The Gambia. I could be wrong but that's my interpretation of it. The substance of the poem also resonates with me growing up elsewhere along the banks of the River Gambia. Keep your poetic talents flowing and keep sharing them. Bailo Bai Mo Baldeh <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Banjul Epitaphs Where were you When we folded our dreams Into kites and let them fly Over the azure skies Of Banjul, Or when we made tiny boats Out of our homework And let them sail on Grant Street Towards the saline mangroves Behind ‘Af Die, the graveyard The graveyard of slave ships And of English greed? And that night On Fitzgerald When Ifangbondi etched Saraba Into our young hearts As we searched For the distant lands Of folktale heroes And smoked our first piccadillys Like virgins. Where were you When the pakin chased us Down Pignaaye and Rankin We who could not see Our fears, yet tripped Over our laughter? And while the lions Prowled the deserted arenas We fought and queued To see Hemamalini, The Indian goddess That stole our lunch And dashed our hopes. Where you there That Friday noon When they came in crowds Behind our backs And broke down The walls of Boxbar As the police watched And even threw our ball Into the gutter, Or when scribes and poets Came to write epitaphs For our fallen children Who only flew kites Over the skies Of this city Laying flat like a tongue In the mouth of The Gambia? by Momodou Baldeh.© --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2˘/min or less. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤