One who lost everything - David Diop

I

The sun was shining in my hut

And my women were beautiful and supple

Like palm trees in the evening breeze.

My children glided on the great river

On the depths of death

And my pirogues wrestled with the crocodiles

The moon, maternal, accompanied our dances

The frenetic and heavy rhythm of the tam-tam, the

tam-tam of joy, the tam-tam of recklessness

In the midst of the fires of freedom.

II

Then one day, Silence...

The rays of the sun seemed to expire

In my empty hut.

My women crushed their reddened mouths    

On the thin hard lips of conquerors with steel eyes

And my children left their peaceful nakedness

For the uniform of iron and blood.

Your voice has also died out

The shackles of slavery have torn my heart

Tams-tams of my nights, tom-tams of my fathers.

---

David Diop (born 1966) France

Translated by Google Translate and Bruce Levitan

Source: Sunumbir

• pirogue - native canoe
• tam-tam - tom-tom drum