4/12/2023

For National Poetry Month, Enjoy "Dis Poem" by Mutabaruka

Dis Poem

By Mutabaruka

dis poem

shall speak of the wretched sea

that washed ships to these shores

of mothers cryin for their young

swallowed up by the sea

dis poem shall say nothing new

dis poem shall speak of time

time unlimited time undefined

dis poem shall call names

names like lumumba, kenyatta, nkrumah

hannibal, akenaton, malcolm, garvey

haile selassie

dis poem is vexed about apartheid racism fascism

the klu klux klan riots in brixton atlanta

jim jones

dis poem is revoltin against 1st world 2nd world

3rd world division man made decision

dis poem is like all the rest

dis poem will not be amongst great literary works

will not be recited by poetry enthusiasts

will not be quoted by politicians nor men of religion

dis poem is knives bombs guns blood fire

blazin for freedom

yes dis poem is a drum

ashanti mau mau ibo yoruba nyahbingi warriors

uhuru uhuru

uhuru namibia

uhuru soweto

uhuru afrika

dis poem will not change things

dis poem needs to be changed

dis poem is a rebirth of a people

arizin awaking understandin

dis poem speak is speakin have spoken

dis poem will continue even when poets have stopped writin

dis poem shall survive u me it shall linger in history

in your mind

in time forever

dis poem is time only time will tell

dis poem is still not written

dis poem has no poet

dis poem is just a part of the story

his-story her-story our story the story still untold

dis poem is now ringin talkin irritatin

makin u want to stop it

but dis poem will not stop

dis poem is long cannot be short

dis poem cannot be tamed cannot be blamed

the story is still not told about dis poem

dis poem is old new

dis poem was copied from the bible your prayer book

playboy magazine the n.y. times readers digest

the c.i.a. files the k.g.b. files

dis poem is no secret

dis poem shall be called boring stupid senseless

dis poem is watchin u tryin to make sense from dis poem

dis poem is messin up your brains

makin u want to stop listenin to dis poem

but u shall not stop listenin to dis poem

u need to know what will be said next in dis poem

dis poem shall disappoint you

because

dis poem is to be continued in your mind in your mind

in your mind your mind.