(For Prof. Pius Adesanmi 1972-2019)
Beyond the shrubs of Sahara
Lifted a munt of brainy bond
Over the Mississippi of Ethiopia
Lofted a penner with his hunky thoughts
Across the bridge of a foreign land
Hovered a book of beautiful pages
Tightly enclaved yet as an Ireland
In a skull rounded in the clime of golden edges
Off the coast of Addis Ababa
Tears rang bell aloud
Beholding a star being staggered
In a nimbus of a faraway land
A heroic pen was raptly melted
As the book of many pages shattered across the ocean
A nation’s pride has become ashes
Making a wave in the hist of the deadly world
Oh! he was roasted faraway
Faraway his father land
Amidst tears in the eyes his nation
A great gem was ruefully tossed
The ashes of his fecund head
The cranes of his creative fingers
The cremains of his eagle eyes
Now pose lifeless in a foreign land
He’s gone
A hero is gone
Roasted in a faraway land
Oh! He’s gone forever
Pius Adesanmi (born on 27th Feb. 1972) was an award-winning Nigerian-born poet, Poet, Essayist and Columnist, and literary critic. A renowned intellectual, he was also a Canadian professor who taught at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. He was one of Nigeria’s leading public intellectuals and an internationally acclaimed author. He was a well celebrated and beloved writer with a sharp intellect and found humor in the grimmest, politically-fueled subjects, often about his home country — Nigeria, as typified in his magnum opus — Naija No Dey Carry Last published in 2015.
Prof. Adesanmi was among the 157 victims who died on Sunday, March 10, 2019, when an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed.
May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.
