Akot Riiny Giir // A Plea for Unity and Renewal in South Sudan // Poetry

 

Akot Riiny Giir

 

A Plea for Unity and Renewal in South Sudan.

 

They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)

 

The people of South Sudan endure a ceaseless tide                 of sorrow. How long must we bear witness                                to the slaughter of innocents, their lives extinguished without mercy? How long will our land be watered             not by hope, but by tears of anguish?

O South Sudan, ancestral cradle of our heritage                  why do you consume words as your children suffer?           The cries of the vulnerable reverberate across your plains and through your cities, unanswered by those entrusted with leadership. The hearts, once pledged to service, have turned to unfeeling steel. The minds, numb to compassion, prioritize power over the sanctity of human life.

We are a nation muted, voices stifled, blessings choked         by fear. Once, we rejoiced in the promise of independence    a beacon of unity for a young nation. Now, that promise dims as greed and division fracture our foundations. Our youth, meant to be architects of tomorrow, are weaponized by the ambitions of the few. Hunger and drought ravage    the land, yet the hands of authority remain clenched   around wealth and control.

To the leaders whose palms are stained with                            the blood of their kin—when will the demons                         of destruction loosen their grip? How                                      can we ask our children, women, and men                                 the very soul of this nation to stand idle as hope         crumbles?

No more let there be covenant: No more cries                                     echoing unanswered. No more bellies hollowed                      by famine. No more fractures of tribe or creed. No             more tyranny of division.

South Sudan, arise. Let us bind our wounds                         with threads of reconciliation. Let us meet not                         as rivals, but as kin one people, one spirit                                one nation. For only in unity will peace take root and only  in shared purpose will our land flourish.

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Akot Riiny Giir is a passionate south Sudanese writer a published Author of the book WHEN THE SOUL RISE, a poet and spoken words artist . She have consistently participated   in  Afrikan Shujaa  magazine issued with the poem title such as Youth Empowerment and many others  in the year 2024. She's also a  social activist, a clinical officer and an entrepreneur