Oath of the Nile by Hiba Babiker (@hurricanehibz)

My soul burns in anguish

I no longer have a heart 

How can I love after you?

You welcomed me 

After being estranged from you

My entire life

I am exiled 

Yet again

For they have destroyed you

Pillaged your villages

Wreaked havoc amongst your monuments

The Nile should be red

Colored with my blood

Of those before me

Of those after me

Of those they massacred with you 

My beautiful land

What has befallen you?

I should have saved you

Like a pharaoh of old

Like Piye

And Taharqa 

I should’ve been Amanirenas

Scaring away the Romans

And their plans of subjugating us Nubians

I should’ve looked Alexander with a glint in my eyes

As I sat stop my elephant 

With an army behind me

Sharp and cold 

Merciless

Allowing them to call us mythical giants 

As they feared our might

But I am no hero

I sit comfortably 

A coward in isolation

The only power is my voice

The pen in my hand a sword

As I tell the tale

Of what has befallen us

My people 

My family

My friends

All who have fallen

Their memory 

My motivation

But history has tainted the land 

Once again

The invaders being fellow countrymen

And those of the neighboring lands

We won’t forgive

We won’t forget

Blood has soaked my homeland

There will be atonement

from the Almighty 

This is not the end for you

The gates of hellfire await you 

But so does our wrath

No jinn

Or afreet

No pact with the devil

Will save you 

From your fate