The Umbilical Cord
I crossed the Mediterranean like those millions.
I am still held captive in their nightmares.
Some say I originate from a continent
that resembles an open-air dump.
I build myself within the concentration camps
that the West has exploited since the slave trade.
They hate my Africanity
but they are addicted to the riches of my ancestors' soil.
I fed on the trash cans of misery
so as not to prostitute myself on Western sidewalks.
These heirs of slave traders bombard Africa
in the name of democracy, human rights,
and Abrahamic obediences.
I am persecuted on every continent,
always a suspect to these insatiable cannibals.
I did not come to assimilate or integrate:
I have already been colonized, Frenchified, and Christianized.
If you do not love me, do not be a hypocrite to my face.
I will make you taste the horrors of Négritude
that I have carried for millennia.
I no longer prostrate myself before their God,
their saints, or their prophets.
I do not believe in their humanism
nor in their universalism.
I fight the negrophobia of imperialism every day.
They call me a parasite,
as if the centuries-old savage looting of Africa
were a mere utopia.
My people were trapped in the dungeons
of their Code Noir.
Before criticizing these scavengers,
I attended the school of the Republic
of the slave-trading Enlightenment.
I gleaned the diplomas of their alienation.
I will never be ashamed of being a pagan Sub-Saharan
who has read the Bible, the Quran, and the Torah.
I will never trust these preachers of hate
who sing the praises of liberty,
equality, and fraternity
over oceans of innocent blood.
My people are dehumanized
because they are still disunited.
I see imposters
desecrating Pan-Africanism
the moment they are tied
to Western pauperization.
I will never respect the borders
born from the balkanization
of the cradle of humanity.
My allegiance goes to Africa and not to the colonial outposts
of the Eldest Daughter of the Church.
I think of Africa every day
since I left that continent.
I wish for the revolutionary energy of the Sahel
To spread across all of Africa.
I dream that all the banana republics
of Françafrique
Transform into sanctuaries
of Pan-Africanism.
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a
Premium Membership.
