All the stars are melted together
in the crucible of time,
then cooled in the sea
and turned into a many-faceted stone-block.
A dying lapidist, the Night,
setting to work with all her heart
and all her grief to see her mills
crumbling, crumbling,
like ashes in the wind,
cuts with what living care the prism.

 

-Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo

Madagascar

 

 

 

 

"Labane, Lines 1-7"

Our lost virginities will never be regained.
Never more will be chosen from princely
beds.

     The Royal Eagle, with his pearly beak
     Digs into the slain hearts
     Ruptures the life roots
     Abandons the remains

-Annette M'Baye d'Erneville

Senegal

 

"The Stars Have Departed"

The stars have departed
The sky in a monocle
Surveys the world under
The stars have departed
And I- Where am I? ?
Stretch, stretch O antennae,
To clutch at this hour,
Fulfilling each movement in a
Broken monody.

-Christopher Okigbo

Nigeria

 

"The Fear of Death"

O death, thy fear I fear,
But I fear thee not.
I wait not for thy appointed day,
For in it you instill thy fright
And trouble the minds and thoughts
Of those who fall to thy illusion.

Admonish thy angel not to come,
For I shall acquaint myself
On how to die even daily,
Like travelers of the far country,
I too shall someday know the route,
From this world to the one beyond,
To transit at will over and again,
Loosing all fear that may lie.

-Oliver Mabamara

Nigeria

 

"True Denials"

To reduce our warmest thoughts to ashes
To douse with dishonesty these fires that burn
To sweep us underneath the carpets
To think tomorrow , never never yesterday
because it brings us not free me or free you
To think we are ended
Is as easy as not.

-DOGHUDJE DOGHUDJE

Nigeria