Monday, October 08, 2007

Being an Australian

Manyok Yaak, aged 26, knows a thing or two about what it means to be an Australian and how to survive the trauma of transition in the post-migration period.

He arrived Australia as a refugee from the Sudan 8 years ago and has never looked back.

In fact, he loves his adopted country and adores its values. He now wants to be known simply as an Australian, not Sudanese, according to The Australian newspaper report.

“I do not want to live in a country where people call me Sudanese, I think of myself as an Australian”, so says Manyok, as he does the daily battle for survival with great dreams and ambitions running through his veins.

In fact, his work ethic is the envy of all. Come to think of it, he works overnight in a factory, from 10pm to 6am, then goes to sleep. In the afternoon, he goes to the University to further his education before returning to the factory.

A living work-horse from way back, young Manyok is determined to do what it takes to improve himself and to succeed where others fail – the recent Government decision to lower the intake of Sudanese refugees notwithstanding.

Friday, October 05, 2007

The Beauty of Dreams

The hours drifted
Quickly from each other
As you talked
Your way into my life…
Spinning dreams

Behold
The dazzling image of you
On a white
Sea-horse… a woman
Of substance

The secret
River runs
Ever so deeply…
Like the red blood
In my veins

Across
The spectrum of light…
My heart thunders
With desire on the road
To Lagos

The colourful
Butterfly embraced
The smiling daisy…
Sensitive tongues locked
In silence

A delightful
Night of rhythm and poetry
In old Calabar…
Tantalizing aroma of soul
Food tickles my fancy

You, Virgo, stole
My heart in the golden
Dawn of time…
And, yet, I’m still dreaming
Of your essence

We walked
Hand in hand into Nirvana
One glorious night…
The majestic beauty
Of a dream fulfilled


© Lawrence T. Udo-Ekpo