We are the Africans

We are the Africans
We rose with the sun and fell with the rain,
Stood with the hills
And danced with the forest-
when life sang her song.

In the comfort of our huts and
thatch we sprung.

We are the Africans-
the paragons of nature-
Seemingly cursed by her grace;
yet we live- blessed by the sun.

We are the Africans
“Never hide behind the curtains”
Queen Kahina would say.
“Peacocks are always proud,
Lions are never afraid,
And eagles are strong.”

We are the Africans
Sing us a good song and we will dance to it by the fireside
Sit by us and we will sing you stories of spiders;
to your awe

We are the Africans
The leopard never looses its spots
So our baroness stays for ever in our curtain ebony laces-
However brutalized it may seem.

And we will always be the Africans
Seated at the peak of King Khufu’s pyramids in Giza-
singing- living- dreaming.