Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

DOUENS

We’s douens
Weird
Bend foot addendums
Jealous of attention
Dwellers in douendom

Tension since Toussaint won,
Sentences can’t mention
Women we depend on
For de scent of redemption

At a river,
eating crayfish
Slave ships,
spaceships
Raving,
Nameless,
Babies,
Blameless.

No christening from Christendom
Who also forgot to claim us,
What a pity!
With a pittance,
Floating down a river aimless.

The soul shivers.
A sliver of a human,
A Nubian,
A nigger.

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabacthani
Running backwards, and backwards,
From pot-hounds attacking we.

Dripping water on pages,
Going though, de stages,
Blind and deaf and dumb,
Broad smiles on de faces.

Yes we wear a mask
Worn out by the task
Of presenting dusky skins,
To the muskets
When they asked.

Tracking back,
Tacking back
From Icacos, to Marac,
Trou Macaque,
To Diego Martin,
marching, and marching.

Marching, and Marching,
Do de damned,
get a pardon?
Marching and marching,
To beg! For piece of plantain.

Daylight come,
And we wan’ leave plantation,
Daylight come,
Are we done, with de bargaining?

Daylight come,
And we no longer owned.
Daylight come and we wan’ go home.

In we queffen,
No question,
Several lessons in downpression.
So clever feet leave impressions,
Hunters head
Wrong directions.

Come and play!
In de clay!
Ma doh want we
Jumbies mount we
So we catching birds with laglee,
And we staying by Ma Lambee

Aborted sons and daughters
Deported
And gawked at
Dancing
With no pants on!
Caught on camera
In a straw hat.

Walk on hand
See with ears,
Listen eyes
Feet in air.
Shaking! We derrière!
Until a feathered snake appears!
Like a faced fear.
Like a trail of tears.
We only place,
Is here.

Running through the jungle,
Naked as we born,
We laughing till de morning
Pitching marble with de fauns!

Slipping off shoes,
Slipping off in canoes,
Peeing on marble statues
Licking salt from a bruise.
At the refuge for the abused.

There we stay,
And we play
Playing Devil
Double dutch.

Two eye blank,
at de bank,
Douen drinking
Such and such.

One day,
Dis day go done,
One day,
Tomorrow go come,
And we go wander...
out de mangrove,
And at last
Taste de sun.

Den dem people
Who
Steal babies,
Better careful!, when we call

And dem children,
Who
Soooo greedy!
Should prepare
To share de ball.

DOUENS
By Chike Pilgrim