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.