Artwork: Bolae
A Different Drum
My nieces grow knowing
dreams I did not see:
muscled women making music's
heart thump, flutter, leap
Women's hands on skin, strong and free
calling rhythm from conga, drawing soul's heat.
Women on those park benches, in the maestro's seat
summoning the crowd to dance, playing the street
with skill aye!, grace and deft assurance
Twice reclaiming our role in tympani
No alien mallets hammering our history
Recreate in play the old new ways
with dundun, aguche, agogo, shekere,
o mamas, do it again,
tambourine, bafoko, tama, djeme,
woman hands on membrane,
woman hands on skin.
Notes:
Bafoko - calabash with skin
Tama - "talking" drum
Djeme - goatskin head worn hanging from
shoulder with open bottom
Shekere - gourd with shells or beads
Other pieces in this issue by Akua Lezli Hope:
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