AFRICAN FIRE

Oh, African fire that burned while my ancestors danced to the beat

of their own ancestors, until their skin was black as the night, black as blackness

black as a black bonfire burning boisterously,

Oh, African fire, dancing on the pile of firewood, with your flames kissing the firewood

making love to it until it becomes as black as coal,

to its very core,  

Oh, African fire, with your enchanting blackness that courses through my veins;

I feel the blackness flowing through me,

imbibing me, intoxicating me like beer!

I see my ancestors dancing with their black bodies dancing through the night

while the drum rolls! rolls! rolls!

--African fire! ferocious fire!

burn through my veins, course through them like a river

flooding in the rain;

Burn! Burn, fire, burn!

burn me to the very core

until I am nothing but ash

and let those ashes be a tale

that will smoke through the homestead tomorrow morning

when they will all say:

“oh, last night there was an African fire,

and yes, it burned like a true African flame!

Yes; its eyes were yellow like a leopard's,

-oh, African fire!”