Dr. Bate’s return to Cameroon revolutionize poetry, but his departure was a crime to the literary world

1. The Only Pen
(To Dr. Bate Bessong, Memoriam)
Just your name was a shame to them
Your return from Ibadan was a national day
The Kaiser advocated for your kidnapping
Yet you shut them with “Disgrace”
Even those at the university were flabagastered by your pen
I was ashame you didn’t open a church
Today there is no pen to continue
Only sleeping writers
Singing for their women
No! I have found the pen
In the dusty road of Mamfe
See you, Cameroon’s vintage
- Saron Obia