Written piece
My line, my commitment to the Commonwealth
Regis Gael ZAMBO
Cameroon
About this piece
The Cameroonian humanitarian worker learns that northern Cameroon is under attack from terrorist groups. he crosses borders and forges an alliance with the One World Strong Foundation. This encounter restore hope. He rise an appeal addressed to the King of the Commonwealth.
My line, my commitment to the Commonwealth
Step by step, solitude.
Word by word, the silent echo of silence.
Son of my mother,
I call to you, mother of the king of my forest.
Naked son in the forest,
I search for my scattered entrails.
My blood seeks the love of my neighbour,
My blood listens, celebrates and comes to the aid of the cry of innocent blood.
My Mvet, melodious song of my ancestors,
Do not shut yourself away within human boundaries,
My Mvet, let the melody of humanity resound in my heart.
My Mvet, the melodious song of my ancestors,
Is not confined by human boundaries,
My Mvet lets the melody of humanity resonate in my heart.
My forest of the Commonwealth,
Oh ! Forest of childhood, essence, wandering,
I call to you with my fiery voice.
Rock me, evening coolness,
Caress me, morning mist,
Comfort me, migratory bird,
Soothe me, river without banks,
Illuminate me, moon heavy with suffering,
Set me free, oh ! King of my forest,
King of the forest of great secrets.
I move forward, yes I move forward towards my solitude,
I move forward towards my brothers of the Sahel,
To the rhythm of bullets whistling through your roots,
To the rhythm of the cry, of the threads,
Last sigh.
To the beat of the deep, gut-wrenching cries that tear at your very core.
I walk towards my mission, my deepest calling:
To serve my fellow man, to serve humanity.
Faced with the enemy’s terror, upon the blood of the son of the chariot of the gods,
My blood has strummed a melancholy tune on the Mvet.
To the beat of the Mvet, of the ancestors,
I followed the path of blood bruised by the enemy’s assaults.
Like the avenger, I marched on Garoua, Maroua and Kousseri.
Despite the weight of the journey on my knees,
I carried my cross,
I raised my voice.
To the rhythm of the Mvet,
I read in the eyes of the sons and daughters
The silent cry for help.
I read in their gestures the messages of women and children crying out for help.
And my Mvet whispered to me with a glance of the connection beyond my Africa.
One day in November 2019, in Nice, France,
My voice joined that of the victims of the Boston bombing.
My partnership with the One World Strong Foundation enabled
A renewal for the people of my country,
Hope reborn, life resuming.
Women breathing life back into the silences,
Young people rising from shattered futures.
My Mvet set the melody of humanity to music.
Today, my partnership guides my calling: to serve my fellow human beings.
In the face of hope reborn,
I call upon my king,
O King of the Commonwealth,
O King of the sacred forest,
Show me the face I seek,
So that my covenant may endure for ever,
That the Commonwealth may remain a virtuous forest,
And that smiles may never fade from our hearts.
I, an innocent son, call upon you
I call upon you with my breath of hope
So that your royal countenance may illuminate the sky of our prayers.
I implore you: cry out your name, great king!
Step out of your seclusion, reveal your face.
Show yourself, and I shall be healed of my fears,
I, an innocent son.
Speak.
To the rhythm of silence, I cry out,
I cry out beneath the wind and beneath the sun beating down upon your head.
Thus my hope will speak to me in your relief,
Thus my sorrows will bid me farewell,
Thus I shall gaze, full of joy, upon your majestic face,
And your tears of joy will raise the sleeping ancestors from their slumber.
Your innocent son will sing of your protective motherhood,
And your tender heart will close its doors to the fears of my brothers and sisters.
My King,
Across the Commonwealth and its lights,
I stretch out this thread of memory and hope,
So that together, from Africa to the Caribbean seas,
We may write peace in hope.