"There shall yet the guns again For privileged cups have emptied rivers And sudden shock of burning thirst Threatens the mother pot." Poetry or prophecy, these riveting lines present a sample of the tour de force behind this cover, a poet's explosive anger at the parlous state of his country. Adroitly couched in words that leap at you, the verses in this handy book are smouldering faggots that signal a looming but avoidable catastrophe. Onyechi Mbamali writes with rare passion, addressing universal issues by proxy reference to his beloved country. You could feel the pain in his brief preface to this collection wherein he alludes to "a great nation belittled and bewildered by poor leadership and decades of shallow conversation." Actually, the sufferings and social scourges afflicting his country may have echoes and mirrors in other parts of the world. But the difference that galls this poet is the shocking absence of meaningful conversation in his land of birth. Hear him in Rumble Of Stubble II: But not a voice to speak for them The jobless throngs in mimes of death Too young to die, too old to cry The empty lives that vultures trail With patient smiles of grave robbers Which voice is heard in word of them? Not the law, neither the prophets For the law in the land is a lie And the prophets lose themselves in Doublespeak where thief is chief This collection of poems is stringed into a compelling narrative, a hazardous road journey complete with mementoes, myths and musings. There are questions of fact to rouse the nation from her numbing sleep and the inexcusable mass poverty that shames her plenitude of natural endowments. Some of the questions touch on the predatory talons of thieving oligarchs, some others rip the masks of deception off race and creed to expose the real issues that undermine peace and progress. Ultimately, Cryland Woes and Other Poems is a clarion call to a timely awakening. Only the deaf may ignore these telling verses...