I Call Upon the Universe #WhereIsBahati – #Andrea

I call upon the universe/ To raise the curtains of darkness

32-year old Rwandan poet, Bahati Innocent Mussa, disappeared at Nyanza Town (in Rwanda) on the 7th of February, 2021, after receiving a phone call (BBC). All efforts to trace the caller and find the missing poet have failed.

Our columnist, Andrea Greider, has previously worked with refugee poets in Rwanda, as well as Bahati, and has sent out this poetic call that he be found. We align ourselves with this call and request the Rwandan authorities to do all they can to find Bahati and reunite him with his loved ones.

A poet is the conscience of society and when a poet goes missing, we lose the ability to see ourselves as we are. Without this, how do we become who we want to be tomorrow?

#KSRCollective.

I Call Upon the Universe

by Andrea Grieder

   One month ago, you disappeared
 Bahati Innocent Mussa
 son of Rwanda
  
 You are too tall to fall in a pit
 You live in a country too small
 To get lost on your journey
  
 I shout your name into the dark night
 A forest of shadows
 And there is no hyena around to respond
  
 Where are you!?
  
 Nyirarumaga is the mother of your poetic voice
 Of words to describe the whole picture
 From dawn to dusk, from dusk to dawn
  
 I call upon the universe
 To raise the curtains of darkness
  
 I call upon the universe
 Until my eyes can see again
 That smile of yours.
  
Rubebe, by Bahati Innocent Mussa
Andrea Grieder
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Andrea Grieder is a poet and social anthropologist. She is the founder of Transpoesis, an organization based in Rwanda with the aim to empower through poetry. Originally from Switzerland, she has a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris. Andrea is currently Director of inArtes, an arttherapy institute in Zurich. Email: info@andreagrieder.com