The Betrayed Town and Other Poems

Le Bosquet

22 Le Bosquet Thank you Sons and Daughters of Africa p i p i n g o u t y o u r s o u l s Straining at haphazard tables Grinning at each other Tapping to the beat -As Misse gripped -- Il a pris toute la soiree -The drums and guitars and horns complained and pulsed The thrilling cadence in song Beat of Africa Heat and heart of Africa Continent of amoebic temperament Sizzling with Life Bursting at the seams Overflowing with nourishment And calling back your children While Nchakounte invented Maghambo and Retro Come play my xylophone, drums and flute – Come shake my shakers Come blow my elephant horn Come tie my ancestral cowries and beads Let us pay tribute where it is due! Speak to me talking drum of Africa Whisper your secrets softly in my ear! Whisper, whisper, whisper again and again Oh Mother Africa so I may never forget Whisper so I will forever remember, Whisper so they will never forget, Gyrating backsides and wriggling waistlines Testimonials of jubilant participation 23 Spectacle of long forgotten village squares Now acquiescing to measured frenzied step. I am happy for this moment! Douala 1980 (on vacation) Midnight Girl She hangs around the corner, Waiting for the drifters -At last, she finds herself in business-The poor victim finds himself in a dingy upstairs bedroom, peeling off her clothes -To discover the concealed crevices in her sagging and layered body. Douala, 1980 Menchum The fall falls from out the sky Thundering down the gorge Foaming, vanishing, rising skyward As it makes sweet music We watch, mesmerized See our bodies’ sink, then rise in unison Merge, effervesce, and disintegrate. Quiet surrounds, trees lean to perceive Rocks cry out in agreement at such battering Birds marvel, executing competing dives ...