Not Again...Catch Up with scenes from Sankara: My Brother, My Enemy

The past month has really been filled with blessings for me and I can't possibly show my gratitude. My computer is the only one functioning here, so I've had to write in my notebooks so that my mom and Nadia can use the computer, too. I have enough poems for my March collection, and I have completely revamped the Sankara play to a form that is both theatrical, poetical, and excitical...smile with me there, lol.
I also have to say it's 5 am here and I'm tired from a night of writing and poker, but before I leave, maybe I could post a speech from my Sankara: My Brother, My Enemy play...I hope you enjoy it.

President Mirrount

 Look around you and observe

the creeping tide threatening

to drown your home and family.

Stretch but your arm and grab

the line I offer in faith

of a future shared between

my household and yours.

Hear the thunder from the Southern shores

whose birth will soon overtake time.

Heed not the doubts of your mind

for the heart is easier to satisfy

than thoughts of unattainable dreams.

Come, hold my hand

and feel the warmth

of a pleasant future

with stores of indefatigable food

and nights of unquenchable rest.

These are but an iota of that which

awaits the silencing of the hopeless drum.

In this scene President Mirrount, the leader of the former colonial nation, is enticing Capitaine Copa - Sankara's second-in-command - with promises of safety and wealth to betray Sankara.

In the next scene, Copa has finally given in to the action, but his heart still pains him.

Copa

O that I would be a rock

unmovable by the coming storms.

Would I to become soaked

by the deluge threatening the horizon

and see my fields chocked by the waters

whose rage would have doomed my flocks?

How do you - or I- save a wretch like I?

I am now trembling at the still shadows;

cowardly seeking refuge from an enemy's chamber.

What is to be shall be

but from my forced will.

A shadow, but I am, to wither

and pass with the memory

of him to whom I was an imitation.

Goodbye, faithful brother;

farewell to the land of our fathers

whose toll was your sweat and tears,

which your blood now joins

in the holiest of sacred trinities.

In the end, Copa gives in and accepts to betray his friend and former comrade. Something is still gnawing within, however, and I am playing around a lot with this "guilt" in the play. Sankara might have been wrong when he told his wife that: "Fear not the whispering of mongrels for they have an owner to whom they whimper for an insult and morsels of discarded crumbs...We are the ones to be feared." I want to examine the thought that maybe "mongrels" should be feared and dealt with before they wreak havoc.

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well, and I promise to start updating regularly again.

Poems

As I pointed out previously, I will be posting some rough drafts of poems I'm working on and see what people think.

Time to Catch Up

It has been a while since I wrote on here due to several unlinked factors, but which all conspired to keep me off here. My mom has now been here for almost three weeks and we are all enjoying the company of my cousins (who have been here for nearly a week), my uncle (who came to visit for a day from Canada), and our great neighbors.
I have received many family heirlooms from her and I now feel a stronger connection to her side of the family...now I have to brush up on my Russian and gear up for my visit up there in the summer.
I also received, as a gift from my mom, a new Canon Rebel 500D (Rebel T1i) camera with the 18-55mm IS and 55-250mm IS lenses, but my goal is to take and sell a few pics to buy myself a quality "L" lens. I'll keep you folks updated on that.
I keep repeating that I consider myself to be an artist, rather than just a writer or a poet or playwright, so the camera will give me a chance to utilize my artistic skills through a different medium.
I think I said this before, but I am planning to release an e-book of about 50 of my poems through a collection titled "Visions of a Homeland: Poems in Exile" at the end of March. I want this collection of poems to showcase a small piece of my culture. Our people’s history extends from one end of time to the other; a period as indescribable as it is enjoyable.
I will be posting updates often. I hope you are enjoying the start to this new year.