Yesterday we dreamed - Michael Theophilus Dom

It was not so long ago
Hardly more than a lifetime or so
When our nation was so young
And our history had just begun.

Then, they stood them all
Forefathers tall
And blessed us
With an anthem song.

We forward went, hither sent
Each tribe and clan,
In this proud Melanesian land,
Every son and daughter born;
United we did stand
With transient shackles shorn
As a new day did dawn.

Did then we dare to dream
And transcend as one?
Have our ancestors been told
How far we have come?
What do we tell of?
What praise, what glory,
That children will hear
As pleasant bedtime stories?

Our Guardians now indulge
In self-serving histrionics
While idle sons
And beleaguered daughters
Survive on informal economics.
Where now, the integrity of Chiefs?
That they may bless us truly

Where too, the vigor of youth?
That will ensure a victory.
How now our mothers and children
Bear the brunt of brutality
When we fail to act rightly?
What future lies in our hands?
Who will fulfill this people’s destiny?

O arise all ye sons of this land
Let us sing of our joy to be free…
Only yesterday we dreamed
Let us sleep no more.

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Michael Theophilus Dom (born 1977) Papua New Guinea
Source: O Arise! Poems on Papua New Guinea’s Politics & Society, Michael Dom, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, February 13, 2016. Copyright © 2016 by Michael Theophilus Dom
ISBN-13: 978-1512039382
Used by permission as noted in the above publication