Ancestor's Ode Poem by Bongo Beno Kabingesi

Ancestor's Ode

Rating: 5.0


From the days before the days before my birth
A slightly catastrophic mood fell over the earth
See before things made of paper and cotton were considered of worth
Before the world needed a nazi reason to hurt
Maybe even days after the beginning of it all
The first breeze blew
And the first swallow soared
The debate is intense
So allow me to retort

Laws are made by the majority who use money as their priority
So by pulling out a badge of seniority they enable a culture
That can still call black people the minority
Like something like skin can determine the size within
The heart that allows the flow to the brain which makes it beat within the skin
Where life can start or sores begin
It hurts I know the scars my kin but this is not a war we need to be enlisted in
For we are the leaders of a faction unknown to the realm
They've never read our ninjustu or practiced our spells
And they've never met She who sells the sea shells
Her solemn song on the shore that rings the bells that wakes the dead
From an eternal slumber of life instead of death - we're living now so are we dead to death?

I've never felt like I haven't been battling fear
I've never said I've never shed tears
I've never said I was raised to remember the way of the spears
I've never said that I'm upset that my ancestors left me here

My words have never lacked anything but what hasn't been taught
My thinking has never been void of anything I've thought
But the demons in me have similar faces and similar names
They all well trained in how to bring me pain
So I sing a soft song and do a dance in the rain
Hoping for some to fall simply on the plain
I feel their fingers picking every piece, every part and every grain
The blood of the soil is the blood in my veins

Every word, every state, every mode
Will be added to the tune as I sing my ancestor's ode

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
'The inspiration behind this one comes from my personal battle with heritage and where I come from. It seeks to explain how I pursue the thoughts of the generations before me while growing within my generation's perception of what this weird thing called life is.'
- Benogene
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Noreen Carden 04 March 2015

Wow this poem is excellent beautifully written very well thought out commentary on how we are shaped by history

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Bongo Beno Kabingesi

Bongo Beno Kabingesi

Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa
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