Dirges for my homeland is a collection of poems inspired by the experiences of the author with the Liberian civil war and his life as a refugee in the diaspora. Saah’s poems on war are chillingly powerful, poignant and moving. He uses his work to promote peace and reconciliation among his fellow Liberians and other war-affected populations.

He writes passionately about his experiences in the Liberian civil war, as well as about his hopes and dreams for peacetime Liberia. Saah writes with flare and simplicity that transports his readers to scenes of his experiences. He hopes his work would inspire other war-affected people to use similar gifts.

Saah has shared his poems with large and small audiences in the Europe, Africa and the USA. He was a guest on the BBC (once on Network Africa and twice on the Art House program in 1997) broadcasting to millions around Africa and the rest of the world. He was also a guest poet on WBUR Boston in 2003. Some of his poems, including, “Little Boy Soldier”, “When it is calm again”, and “The Unwilling Soldier” have been translated into two languages (Dutch and Arabic) and published in various magazines.

Saah C. N’Tow is one of Africa’s brilliant upcoming young poets. He is a community organizer, a peace activist and a founding member and a former leader of the Liberian Community Organization (LICO) in London. He works with the Liberian Community Association of Rhode Island (LCARI) as its Development and Immigration Committees chair. In 2002, he was awarded a Rhode Island Foundation Fellowship to promote poetry as therapy in post war societies. 

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics (University of Liberia); a Masters of Science in Human Services Administration from (Springfield College, MA); and a Postgraduate Certificate in Youth and Community Services from Brunel University (Middlesex, England).

Saah has shared his powerfully moving poems with large and small audiences in the UK, Holland, Africa and the USA. He was a guest on the BBC (once on Network Africa and twice on the Art House program, in 1997) broadcasting to millions of listeners all around Africa and the rest of the world. The author lives with his wife and children in Providence, Rhode Island.

Harsh Realities

We heard the sound: it was horrible
Then the scream, someone in pain, a moan
The scream grew faint, no longer audible
The sound of a gun, a dying man left to moan

We couldn’t help: we were captives
Painful and true, the reality of impotence
In anguish and grieve, revenge was our motive
But we grieved in vain with raging hate in silence

The sound was the same, always horrible
Sometimes a scream: sometimes dead silence
Always death and a pool of blood
With hate and greed the raging pestilence

Who will be next, the victim to die?
Who will stand aside, to wait his turn?
Who will want to help, yet run to hide?
Who will force a smile, yet in anger burn?

THROUGH THE BUSHES

Journey painful, hard and long
In search of dear life, they must carry on
For the young, the old and all who fled
It was through the bushes that all roads led

Death and pain and infliction of suffering, untold
For the unfortunate: the weak, the strong, the young and old
Trekking wearily on a journey long
Through the bushes: wet, dark, thick and strong

Sudden departures, cautious and slow
To destinations unknown and fate unsure
Shattered families creeping and crawling
Through the bushes towards safety’s calling

Arduous Pleasure

She now holds a Child:

Borne into an angry world
To a union that never was
A son that unites the two
From a crime of sex too cruel

It was his pleasure

To steal her most valued treasure
In his moment of lustful madness
That became her life long memory of sadness
He was overpowered and obsessed by lust
No love, no feelings, a betrayal of unspoken trust
Tinted by hate, big and strong, he had no fear
Useless to struggle
Unable to scream,
She lie in her pool of tears

She surrendered.