Africa
your solar tiara knocked down to your neck by rifle butts
they have turned it into an iron-collar; your clairvoyance
they've put out its eyes; prostituted your chaste face;
screamin that it was guttural, they muzzled
your voice, which was speaking in the silence of shadows.
Africa,
do not tremble this is a new fight,
the living wave of your blood secretes unfailingly
constant a season; night today is, at the bottom of ponds,
the frightening and unstable back of an incompletely asleep star,
and perserve, and fight--even if to conjure up space you had only
the space of your name irritated by dryness.
Snout holes snout holes
land ripped with snout holes
sacked
tattooed
great body
massive disfigure where the tough snout dug
Africa the forgotten days which always walk
with curved shells in the doubt of eyes
will spring to the public face amidst happy ruins, on the plain
the white tree with willing hands will be each tree
a tempest of trees in the unparalleled foam and sand,
hidden things will again climb the slope of dormant musics,
today's wound is an oriental cavern,
a shuddering issuing from black forgotten fires, it is,
sprung from blemishes from the ash of bitter words
from scars, all smooth and new, a face
of long ago, bird concealed spewed, bird brother of the sun.
Aime Cesaire
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6 comments:
Cesaire.. he taught Frantz Fanon, no? I was big on all those dudes from martinique once. You know, the black Frenchmen- assimilados.
Oh and I read a bit from the Negritude days...was that with Leopold Senghor?
Toussant L'overture was there too... Man I am rusty. Haven't been reading as broadly as I used to!
@Potash,
You're right. Cesaire was Fanon's teacher in Martinique. Senghor and Damas were his fellow cronies in the Negritude days.
I've discovered these great thinkers recently through a history/ethnic studies class and wondered why the hell I didn't know about them before. Their work should be required reading in school. I am so excited about their ideas because they put words to the situations we face today. I just started on Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" today.
You're obviously well-read! Thanks for stopping by.
I remember reading an excerpt from Pedagogy of the Oppressed for my freshman writing class. Can't remember what it was about though! I should get the book and read the whole thing.
Thanks for sharing the poem.
@Egm,
Freire is one of the most influential educational theorists. I'm enjoying his book so far.
Glad you enjoyed the poem.
WOW...fantastic poem...ta for sharing...
@Quintessence,
the power of words....
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