Joseph Kaifala

If love were...

If love were...

If love were in a day 
I will ask the creator for a thousand more 
To quench this loving thirst that dries my lips 
Since last February fourteen 
When my lover beyond mountains flew 


If love were in bouquets of flower 
So shall I pray for fertile ground 
Where my heart will blossom 
To fill the world with choking fragrance 
That all lovers may suffocate 
In this wild field of rose 


If love were diamond rings 
A Jeweler's shop shall be my throne 
To bind my lover's heart forever 
In this shinny ring of love 
That she may always be my own 
Till death do us apart



-Joseph Kaifala

Joseph Kaifala Interview

Please follow the link to watch an interview with me for the student in service award.

03-15-11 Joseph Kaifala Interview

Sierra Leone: LION MOUNTAINS

In the womb of Lion Mountains I was conceived

In her absence I have rediscovered myself

I was forced to leave you motherland

But I am strengthened by your blood

The blood of freemen mixed with natives

On the western side of a continent

A home for Africa’s abandoned children

How I long to coil in your black belly again

And smell the aroma of foufou and tola

Cooked with hog-foot and canya pepe

And the tang of Mama Jeneba’s pemahun

Dispersed by the smell of kenda and dry-fish

To fold my index finger and lick the masangé

That made me a strong and healthy boy

Land that we love our Sierra Leone

Where lunch was never salad or sandwich

But fine Bo gari and a slice of kanya à la carte

Where dinner was served at the bottom of a pot

As numerous hands competed to feed each owner

And the children were left to scrape the krawo

Knowing hands and ages were no fair distributors

Land of my humble birth where I belong

I weep for you in the silence of my night

Knowing your children struggle for life

As you attempt to arise from the ruins of war

Slowly and painfully your head penetrates the rubble

Hope and your children pulling you up

To manifest your zeal that never tires

For the love of God stop the killing!

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/63279

Madiba

From the forbidden slums of West Africa

To the sand dunes of the Sahara desert

And the highest tip of Mount Kilimanjaro

A dark continent chants your blessed name

All hail Nelson Madiba Mandela!

A King we can adorn with gold

 

When Africa’s children wailed in pain

From an iron fist a new king emerged

To bite off the chains of oppression

As he awoke in a silent manger

Where Africa’s leaders laid in pensive gaze

Like crouching lions beneath the savannah

 

All hail Nelson Madiba Mandela!

Visionary patron of Africa’s freedom

A warrior’s son who fought with words

To induce stronger hope in shattered hearts

Like the voices of Africa’s praise singers

That calm even the meanest of kings

 

All hail Nelson Madiba Mandela

A Thembu prince from a Xhosa nation

Rolihlahla the humble prince of peace

All of Africa adores your royal name

In your mighty warrior’s fist awakes

Shaka, Samorie, and Sundiata the Lion King

 

Let the rivers flow to the rhythm of you name

Let the mountains of Africa echo Madiba

As your voice consumes our fears

To brace ourselves for the battle ahead

Singing hymns of praise to our father

Bayete a-a-a, Nelson Madiba Mandela

Pambazuka - The rule of law even when it is inconvenient

Pambazuka - The rule of law even when it is inconvenient