POEM

written by Ku-Soonogo

We shall sit by the sea, by the sea, by the sea;
we shall sit by the sea at the close of the day
watching the children play

We shall sit by the sea, by the sea, by the sea;
we shall sit by the sea, by the doorway of the sky
watching the John Crow fly.

We shall sit by the sea
listening to the hissing, to the whispering of the sea
listening to the griots tell
of the snatching into hell,
one hundred million Black lining the track
back to Africa.
Nakumbuka.

We shall sit by the sea
waiting for the day
the ship will carry us to the way
of our ancestors - religious, not fictitious;
sit and wait for the date;
it is not for us to calculate the mathematics of infinity;
we live on the affinity with the bones that line the track
taking us back
to Africa.
Nakumbuka. Nakumbuka.

Yes, we will remember the sardine-packed ships,
the brutality of the whips,
shitting in the dark
and the sharks nyaming human flesh from the dinner-makers,
human cargo-takers to the America's.

We shall sit by the sea, by the sea, by the sea;
we shall by the sea at the close of the day
watching the children play,
no matter the sharks on the flood
looking out for blood,
no matter the John Crow, eyes on its head,
looking out for the dead;
we have others, saints,
who live free
at the bottom of the sea,
one hundred million Black
lining the track
taking us back
to Africa.
Nakumbuka Ba Ba! Nakumbuka Ba Ba!

We shall sit by the sea, by the sea, by the sea;
we shall sit by the sea,
to the doorway of the sky
letting our spirits fly.