(For Prof. Pius Adesanmi 1972-2019)
Beyond the shrubs of Sahara
Lifted a munt of brainy bond
Over the Mississippi of Ethiopia
Lofted a penner with his hunky thoughts
Across the bridge of a foreign land
Hovered a book of beautiful pages
Tightly enclaved yet as an Ireland
In a skull rounded in the clime of golden edges
Off the coast of Addis Ababa
Tears rang bell aloud
Beholding a star being staggered
In a nimbus of a faraway land
A heroic pen was raptly melted
As the book of many pages shattered across the ocean
A nation’s pride has become ashes
Making a wave in the hist of the deadly world
Oh! he was roasted faraway
Faraway his father land
Amidst tears in the eyes his nation
A great gem was ruefully tossed
The ashes of his fecund head
The cranes of his creative fingers
The cremains of his eagle eyes
Now pose lifeless in a foreign land
He’s gone
A hero is gone
Roasted in a faraway land
Oh! He’s gone forever
Pius Adesanmi (born on 27th Feb. 1972) was an award-winning Nigerian-born poet, Poet, Essayist and Columnist, and literary critic. A renowned intellectual, he was also a Canadian professor who taught at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. He was one of Nigeria’s leading public intellectuals and an internationally acclaimed author. He was a well celebrated and beloved writer with a sharp intellect and found humor in the grimmest, politically-fueled subjects, often about his home country — Nigeria, as typified in his magnum opus — Naija No Dey Carry Last published in 2015.
Prof. Adesanmi was among the 157 victims who died on Sunday, March 10, 2019, when an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.wrr.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/pius-adesanmi1.jpg?resize=720%2C960&ssl=1)
May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.