Walk down this journey of words and feed your mind

Sniff through the cologne of our old pages

strengthen our roots

And celebrate how far long we have sailed through the hands of time.

See they say “heavy is the head that wears the crown”

and once you look deeper, You’ll spot the cracks behind the biggest smiles

So turn through the pages of the smiling coast

And celebrate our fallen heroes

Chant their names and send them glory

For they brought forth the breath of freedom.

In unison bow down in honour of the forgotten queens

Whose names we’ve labelled as less than our history pages

Who embodied and nurtured the founding fathers

Bathed them in hope and gave them wings to fly

Endured the rocky ride

The support system that stayed back stage and made sure the act went well

The sheroes that sent praise when the odds were in our favour.

Brought forth 1965 For The Gambia our Homeland.

Ndah bess boba la Gambia mormeh bopam

Ku neh taka sa ndiga nak, fas aeneh ligaye, johh reww mi arham.

We gave birth to peace and unity

To strength and beauty

To hope and harmony

Deka ba sutura sampeh mbakh

Nyor ko boka nyow sampi fi takh

Yallah bakhna defal nyu talli

Le la nyu fi mam yi lorn

Nyune nyu nyow wacha yorn.

Spent 22years moulding a dictator

Gave tribalism a sit in our midst

And gave up the fight

Dragged the dignity of the founding fathers and mothers down the mud

Injected strength in our index fingers

And now we take turns in the blame game.

Welcome to the coast still trying to get back her smile

Whose people made history

Kicked out a dictator through the ballot

But is still pricking her wounds

And on a race along the lanes of the present and the past.

Her people wear the biggest smiles but embody the deepest wounds

Fanj la maata d fuuf

Jeff d suul

Duma dem y dor dem, my friend maneh wachal c suff.

Then came her brave decendants,

Who toiled and soiled

Coiled and teared

To break the shackles of injustice

Ended the long years of terror

Brought forth light to the darkness she has always known

Freed her voice and spoke to existence the New Gambia.

But again I ask

What is really New here?

All I see is different faces taking us through old pages.

Reintroduce injustice and feed on our old scars

Walk us half a step to the top just to push us down the hands of time

Arrest us unlawful and trigger memories of our dark times

Sharpen our voices just to shut us up before we even attempt to speak.

A government that constantly reminds us that they saved us

We would better be greatful and bow to them

Thank them for liberating us

Sit back relax and watch previous episodes in our new found season.

But again, we liberated ourselves through the ballots

And never shall we light the way to our chains.

We put you in and we still got the key to put you out.

So we’re not asking for you to be just

To hear our cries and fulfill our demands

To honour our plight and respect our rights.

We’ll demand!!

For the power to will has been embedded in each of us.

So as we turn to 1965 again,

Let’s renew our promises as stated in our Nation Anthem

Drop the New before Gambia and take responsibility

Steer the wheels of the country towards the path of change

And better our nation.

Expose our wounds to time and let them heal,

Let the past remain in the past

Delu c lufi mam yi bayi worn

Nekat bena, jappo ligaye rewmi ndah nyo kor boka

Boka ndey ak baye

On this day as we celebrate the founding fathers and mothers

Let’s reflect and act

For “heavy is the head that wears the crown”

Poetry Independence The Gambia