We Africans
We Africans We, the crossers of high seas We, the keepers of memories Remember us For you pulse with the blood of our veins And you cry with the fear of our pains We’re born, we rise We open our eyes We crawl, we walk We’re learning to talk We Africans We, the fathers of hungry hands We, the mothers of thirsty lands Join with us For your toil is sweat on our furrowed brow And your guilt is shame for our here and now We Africans We, the sons of rusty chains We, the daughters of dried-up rains Join with us For your suffering leaves tears in our eyes And your great escape is our freedom’s rise We plant, we reap We strive, we weep We serve, we slave We hope, we brave We Africans We, the farmers of the plains We, the hunters of the rains Stand with us For your food is our planted gorge And your iron is our fiery forge We Africans We, the nomads of the sand We, the stewards of the land Stand with us For your drink is our handpicked beans And your wealth is our tunnelled seams We dig, we drill We bend our will We melt, we mould We bleed for gold We Africans We, the soldiers of the thorny cross We, the seekers of the pantheons lost Rise with us For your chapels enact our daily sacraments And your deities fill our starry firmaments We Africans We, the pilgrims of the crescent moon We, the students of our earthly swoon Rise with us For your mosques echo our calls to prayer And your mission is our promise to care We kneel, we pray We sing, we slay We lift our pain We praise His name We Africans We, the singers of life’s sorrow We, the lovers of tomorrow Reunite us For your maps are our patterned mosaic And your home is our ancient namesake We Africans We, the dancers of our freedoms We, the voices of new seasons Reunite us For your culture is our rainbow display And your genes are our twined DNA We drum, we beat We stamp our feet We weave, we thread We love, we wed We Africans We, the refugees of futile fighting We, the tribes of lands uniting Welcome us For as you gain so we have lost And what we give is without cost We Africans We, the migrants of opportunity We, the leaders of the fair and free Welcome us For as we join as fragile friends So we prosper in the end We move, we tread We search, we spread We fit, we fight We claim our right We Africans We, the archers of the starry sky We, the askers of the question why Celebrate with us For the dawn is strung with morning dew And our time has come to start anew We Africans We, the scatterlings of the rising sun We, all proud Africans, every one Celebrate with us For our future fate is far from done And we are all Africans, every oneWayne Visser © 2012
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We Africans (poem)
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