2021.05.19.
Come on, Africa!
Come on,I have heard the throbbing of your drums.
Come on,
my blood surges in drunken rhythms.
Come on, Africa!
Come on,
I have lifted my forehead from the dust.
Come on,
I have scraped crusts of despair from my eyes.
Come on,
I have shrugged off the pain of ages.
Come on,
I have clawed off webs of despair.
Come on, Africa!
The manacles on my fists are now bludgeons,
the choker round my neck forged as a shield,
Come forth, Africa!
Doe-eyed spears glow in every river marsh,
the inky night, ruddy with enemy blood,
Come forth, Africa!
The earth beats with me as one, Africa!
The river swells and dances
to the backbeat of the jungle.
I am Africa,
I have fashioned myself in your shape.
I am you,
my gait, your leonine stride.
Come forth, Africa!
Come, stride out like a lion.
Africa, Come forth!