(In honor of victims of slavery while it lasted International Day for the Abolition of Slavery)
Toiling and thumping in the pains of history
freedom they say was all we needed
we roll and boil in the bloodbath of slavery
our kindred always the sacrificial lamb
it felt so real
the agonies of war we hear every day
echoes and drums of warriors thump the innocent earth
the clatter of iron deafens the ear of unsuspecting babies
mothers flee from the spiral of spoil taking
men speed into their huts to gather weapons
it is time for war
the end is always for the bravest
slavery awaits the feeble
women and children cry for their fate
warriors rejoice at their catch
warlords happy for the white man’s mirror and gun
over seven mountain and seven seas
it was a journey to the unknown
life force drains at the sheer distance
others die from complete abandonment
slavery was never euphoria
freedom became an illusion from the pit of dejection
our lands were naked by we-selves
the white land became nourished green from black labor
we wander from pillar to post
we became fugitives of technology
II
Freedom!
when shall we ever feel your soothing caress?
from where shall the well of choice flow from?
mother nature, father time
look down upon us the victims of development
we wash the earth with our bloody tears
and our lead-riddled body
we nourish the soil with our dead babies
the setting and rising of the sun, our solace
will that time come when our stories are told?
when will the moon rise on our children as free-born?
the dreams we have are of pain and freedom
not for us, but our unborn children
we dream of times when our children go to school without fear
we dream of days where our husbands go to farm without anxiety
we dream of seasons when our women go to the stream without trepidation
we dream of moons where we rejoice at the new moon
we dream of harvests where we celebrate the coming of the new yam
we dream, we dream again, we dream yet again
will there be no end to our dreaming?
citizens of the earth
this is the voice of fear
give ear to our sorrows
they flow inhibited like the Nile
run to the end of the earth and back
III
Do you hear that sound?
gbam, gbam, gbam
do you know that sound?
it is the sound of iron falling from the air
the sound of freedom
free at last
it is the song of freedom
freedom won by the mouth of sheer will and force
freedom fought, freedom gained
the pains and shackles of slavery
soon to become history
tell my native land, home i come not
for from my land I was forcefully ejected
into a land I know nothing of
but for the black blood boiling in my veins
I will make the best out of everything life throws me
so stay I in a foreign land,
to make something out of me-self
by the way, where in the black race do I hail from?
IV
freedom at last
but wait
are we indeed free?
