Oh, Mighty Kora

kora.jpg
I Cannot Hide from the Kora

Oh, Mighty Kora
Why do you tear the heart apart
take soul from mind
ten thousand years of culture
seeps into a soul lost in time
Oh, Kora
taking heart into time lost, time regained
what magic is this, what mystery
sound set centuries ago
no improvisation, no jazz
myth and ritual set for infinity
voices heard
message to the king
from the king
griot sings song to the court
king listens and obeys sound of kora
submit or die
heart music cannot lie
sound of a thousand nights on the River Senegal
dance of a thousand warriors
holy stomp of a thousand women breasts shaking in the sun
take me home,take me home
I am not bound for this wilderness, this dungeon in darkness
how was I taken from my holy land
cast into hell with devils of the worse kind
naked and devoid of my holy tongue
my holy mind and soul

Now I speak the language of bastards
men of ill repute
pirates, kidnappers and rapists
these are not men but the shell of human beings
who plunder for the illusions of life
there is no joy in their ritual
no happiness, no peace
I am weary, a stranger in a strange land
take me back to the Senegal and the Niger
Let me hear the Kora in the day and in the night
the dance of ancient times
rhythms of ancestors
let me be at peace with eternity
this is not my world
no matter how I try
I am naked in the wind
take me home, take me home
let the whirlwind take me home
let me return to the womb of my Mother
let me dwell in the peace of my Father's House.
--Marvin X
6/17/10

from Sweet Tea/Dirty Rice Poems, Marvin X, Black Bird Press, Berkeley, 2011.

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