Kwanza Msingwana, pág. 49

Kwanza Msingwana

Kwanza Msingwana in his own words have a master in teaching degree (primary/junior). I’m a musician. i play percussion instruments. i’am a storyteller. i tell african folktales and stories from other cultures. i tell stories of life. wide ranging knowledge of africa. art forms. culture(s). cinema/film. music travel. etc. i’m an actor. i do voice overs. for tv, movies, and videos (“karate kid” for the street kids international organization on H.I.V. and aids awareness, domestic violence prevention); certified interpreter (english-kiswahilienglish)

TO THE SPIRIT OF F. O. W. J. ROGERS “…and what may quiet us in death so noble...” from the U of T war memorial. do these words haunt you now/ in your eternal sleep/ i ask does your spirit lie in peace/ restful/ youknow well your actions were heroic for queen and country/ or do you wonder sometimes why you sacrificed your youth/ just so egos of men would be fed in blood. do you ever wonder sometimes/ whywar still raging today if all those deaths/ yours included/ were so noble/ i hear your cries of anguish/ forthe loss of life so precious/ i too cry of wars/ endless and futile. rest in peace f. o. w. j. rogers.

BONES SACRIFICES beneath the big blue sea rest bones of long gone not forgotten ancestors could not escape the big gaping maw full of corroding salt teeming with suffocating silt big bones beneath dark brown mississippi blues black bodies lie though far gone deep beneath the big blue seawe shall not forget our broad shouldered ancestors second month alone not enough to reap pay your sacrifices eternal beyond twelve and all the days in our hearts you cheated death beneath the big blue seato wade swim and drown in swampy muddy brown waters infested with gators perished in slithery snake crawling forest greens frozen in snowy tundras cursed shiveringand miserable yet survived throat parching endless desert khamsins with blistered feet calloused by bloody rock stones licked by sunbathed lizards with darting eyes and flicking fiery tonguesdark loam blooded moist caked cotton fieldsstill dignified beneath sky kissed concrete and glass towers (that’ll crumble to sand) wherever you may rest remember always i stand erect on your broad shoulders see twenty four seven twelve three hundred sixty five times will never do to reap pay sacrifices witness uncountable black bones resting uncomfortable beneath the big blue sea.

DEVILS AND CROSSES devils on crosses with crowns of thorns hanging upside down bad seeds scattered vast distances from queen and country as though by kimbunga gusts of swirling destruction see them on crosses crooked crowns of ukoka and thorns perched comfortable on their heads unblinking lies dangling like jewels now wrestle with disciples of shango followers of mulungu the sangoma tinyanga speaking in tongues to nkulunkulu olodumare almighty creator from east to west of the middle their voices muted by atumpan thundering tam tams invoking nyame ancestors beacon now see hear bala over there tama tamu over here ason a mains houngan zanmiga té o tambour mwé nganga manyanga mbira na hosho simbi/ bones strewn on red soil divining exposing hoaxes by drunken sailors lost in the whirlwinds occupier invaders of stolen sacred lands misnamed skies caged birds of free flight shackled braves who roamed the wilderness killt the seen felt touched goddess of here and now earth mother of us all while praying to unseen god known only in immaculate misconceptions imaginary in the minds of devils on crosses adorned by crowns of thorns hanging upside down cross eyed and askew speaking from corners of their mouths still make no sense