Krawo
As an Eastend pikin,
the only breakfast I knew
was a hot pot
of grandma’s kol rɛs
Spoons will break
before krawo goes to waste
On the other side of a six-hour flight;
My first breakfast in this foreign land,
Grandma’s pot is replaced
by a microwave
wetin dis?
Porridge!
Rɛs nɔ de?
if na rɛs yu want, a go mek am fɔ yu!
No firewood, no smoke,
no matches, no struggle
My kol rɛs is piping hot
in under five minutes
Love is starting your day
with a taste of home
but this plate
lacks grandma’s touch
because as kwik as i de wam kol rɛs,
microwave nɔ de mek krawo.
Abu B. Yillah is a London-based British-Sierra Leonean interdisciplinary artist with a primary interest in poetry and filmmaking. Alongside his creative work, Abu co-curates the Sierra Leone Arts & Culture festival (#SLACfest), a celebration of work from Sierra Leoneans across the world.
Mi at sidɔm saful
Mi at sidɔm saful by Anni Domingo
1. Mi at sidɔm saful bikɔs a no se
pan ɔl we di wɔl tɔnɔbɔ ɔlsay
sɔm pɔsin dɛn de we de wok
de ɛn nɛt fɔ ol wi ɔl tayt
so natin nɔ go ambɔg wi.
2. Mi at sidɔm saful bikɔs a no se
pan ɔl we wi de bay wisɛf,
ɛn wi nɔ de niya wi kɔmpin,
wi ɔl na wan ɛn de fil ɔl
wetin wi kɔmpin de fil.
3. Mi at sidɔm saful bikɔs a no se
pan ɔl we ɔlman lɔk insay os, in wan gren,
di wɔl dɔn big. Wi de tɔk naw sɔm kayn we
wi nɔ mɛmba se go apin wan de. Ɔlman na
wan, ɛn wi bisin bɔt wi kɔmpin dɛm.
4. Mi at sidɔm saful bikɔs a no se
dɛm wan dɛm we nɔbɔdi bin de braskitul sɛf,
na dɛm de bifo naw. Dɛn nɔ de na grɔn igen,
wi abop pan dɛm. Na so wi ɔl de klap fɔ dɛm.
5. Mi at sidɔm saful bikɔs a no se
wi kin manej naw witawt bɔku bɔku tin dɛm.
Na pɔsin, nɔto tin dɛm, go mek wi layf bɛtɛ,
Ɛn tɔn dawt ɛn tabitabi to op fɔ tumara.
6. Mi at sidɔm saful bikɔs a no se
Dis lɔkdɔng ya so, nɔ min se wi fasin insay.
I mek wi at swɛl big so te wi ebul fɔ
pre fɔ dɛn wan dɛm we dɔn lɔs dɛnsɛf
ɔ dɛm bɔdi dɔn brok wit tumɔs wahala.
7. Mi at sidɔm saful bikɔs a no se
ɔl dis bɔku plaba go tap wan de.
Ivin na dis kres kres tɛm ya so
Wi dɔn fɛn tru sori-at ɛn ajo,
ɛn wi at de sing wit jɔy.
8. Mi at sidɔm saful bikɔs a no se
tide na bunya, ɛn wi nɔ no wetin go kam
tumara bambay. We wi ɔl sidɔm na os
di grɔn dɔn gɛ tɛm fɔ de mɛn insɛf.
9. Mi at sidɔm saful bikɔs a no se
ɔltin we de insay wi at, na di sem tin
we bin de fɔstɛm, bikɔs ɔltin na wan
i sidɔm na wi at, ɛn fasin wi to aw
wi tan lɛk dip insay, to udat wi bi.
10. Mi at sidɔm saful bikɔs a no se
wi dɔn gɛt bɔku bɔku tɛm. so lɛ wi
tinap, lɛ wi lisin ɛn memba se,
wi tranga, ɛn bay ɛn bay, wi go ebul
fɔ blo kam dɔng igɛn .
Anni Domingo is a British-Sierra Leonean actress in Theatre, Television, Radio and in Films.
Note: Ms Domingo would like to acknowledge Amadu Bangura and Esme James for helping with
official Krio orthography in this poem.
16 Years Later
16 years later
a mit dɛm na di sem ples we dɛm bi kam lɛf mi
Fritɔŋ Lunge Airport
as a kɔmɔt na di plen, e, a de fil ɔt
so a de drink bɔku wata, a nɔ de ask how much
ɔl mi anti ɛn ɔnkul dɛn se Abu na yu dɔn big so
bɔt dɛn ɔl stil luk di sem lɛk se na yɛstade a go
16 years later
ɔl dɛn pikin dɛn fes luk jɔs lɛk mi
sem nos ɛn chikbon with melanin slightly richer
dɛn nɔ wande si mi bifo bɔt dɛn ɔl de kɔl mi ɔnkul
16 years later
ɛvri mɔnin ɔf ɛvri de
ɔlman de grit ɔlman lɛk se wi na fambul
ivin we di san ɔt, a nɔ de si bɔku lɔng mɔt
‘padiman aw di bɔdi?’
a sam, tɛl gɔd tɛnki
16 years later
ɔl sɔm man dɛn gɛ fɔ it na bred ɛn bɔta
bɔt ɛvri salon man stil gɛt wetin i fasin
sɔm dɛn lɛk uman-lapa, sɔm dɛn lɛk bita-kola
sɔm man dɛn sabi sing we di ɔmɔle dɔn waka
LXG bin tɛl wi se, kaki nɔ to lɛda
bɔt stil dɛn bebi dɛn sabi chɛr am
16 years later
di slogan dɛn na di sem
tide fɔ yu, tumara fɔ mi
minɛŋ o, munɔŋ o, sabanɔ
Sierra Leone, na wi ɔl yon,
una mek wi ep wisɛf for improve Sierra Leone
mi fambul dɛm a no se, chariti bigins at om
so no mata usay a go, a nɔ go fɔgɛt mi salon
wɛlintin, kalba- tɔŋ, bay nyu rod ɔ ol rod
if wi de go wɛstɛnd, wi tek wilkinsin rod
Aberdeen, Lumley, wi kɔntri so lɔvli
16 years later
Taxi drayva stil wan olɔp mi chenj lɛk se a sabi dem
ɛn layt de stil kam ɛn go, lɛk dɛn JC dɛm.
Abu Yillah is a Sierra Leonean Filmmaker, Poet and Photographer based in London.
I Am The Sierra Leone
I am the Sierra Leone that collared a tripping mouthed stranger
whose intoxication challenged my existence before his arrival
O' how he aroused the sentries watching over my fathers' land
whose thunderous growls must have sent him back to the coast
I am the Sierra Leone whose belly is home to to a thousand treasures
adorning a suit of resilience, I splash in exotic waters of patience
and laze on beaches paved with marble sands under the Sierra sun
a picture of queenly flair to all who graze upon my lush greens
I am the Sierra Leone that birthed the Senghe Pieh's heart
of defiance and will to live or die fighting for a right to live
one whose humanity was shipped away on high seas of slavery
to feed the lowliness of colonialism through gullets of racism
I am the Sierra Leone that nursed and taught the Davidson Nicols
of this world, to grace the Halls of the Great Athens of West Africa
whose apparel of glory left to dive, shall fly again in the African skies
for ours is a people with a vision to mark our handprints in history
I am the Sierra Leone where the 'Yokos'
of every generation
dance to the traditional drumbeats of virtue and pride of womanhood
amid deafening citations of high infant and maternal mortality
while the shadow of morbidity stubbornly lingers around our homes
I am the Sierra Leone that an eleven year conflict and carnage
left behind to rise from the shambles of past mistakes, to sing
with one voice that never again shall we swim in rivers of our own blood
just because our voices are stifled by voices stronger and powerful.
Samuella Conteh is a writer, poet and human rights professional from Sierra Leone.