Poetry - Whispers of African drums
Author
Ariana Parra
Date Published
Whispers of African drums
Once, ancient African drums whispered a secret to me about “red deserts.”
Back in the Venezuelan favela that raised me up
Under gunshots
Under fear
Under a red-colored dictatorship
Red bodies on the streets
The drums said:
"Once, all the desert's sand was drops in the sea, and even the smallest grain of sand has a history to share..."
Something moved inside me
Something, I remembered
From the prayers of those drums
From the rhythm in my blood
Something cracked
And then the light came in
So I danced
And all the violence, I forgave
Breaking the chains
The chains of rage
The slave of fear
So I danced
And I’m still dancing
I dance for peace
I dance for freedom
For the Black, the Brown
For the light-skinned
For the poor, the rich
The Muslim, the Jew
The kidnapped, the killed
The Indigenous and the colonizer too
And one day, I understood I didn’t have to do it alone
And neither do you
I dance with my tribe
And I want you to dance with us
And break your chains; together
Because… the drums said:
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ALONE.”
Through vulnerability, we connect
Through connection, we forgive
Through movement, we transform
Through unity, we love
And through love… We create the peace we are looking for.
Axé
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