CONGO SQUARE
the oumas indians prepared this place for us
centuries before our arrival
a sacred spot where corn festivals
were celebrated & as the colonializers came
they pushed aside our hosts
& introduced us in chains
& by the late 1700s we somehow
recognizing the sacredness of le place de congo,
we somehow, and the how of our persuasive methodologies
is not clear at this moment, but nevertheless,
even as slaves we crafted and created a space
where we could be free to be we
and thusly we countered the sacriligousness of the french
giving great homage to our ancestors as well as
giving praise & thanx to our red blooded brothers & sisters
this is an oral libational toast
to congo square
to native americans
to our ancestors
who made a circle in a square
and gave us a way to stay ourselves save ourselves
from the transformatory ugliness of america
which refuses to recognize the spirituality of life
and celebrates death with crosses & crosses, double
& triple crosses, the middle passage the first cross,
christianity the double cross and capitalism
the ultimate triple coup de grace cross of our captivity
but the terror of crosses notwithstanding
we sang, we beat, we be, we was & is
hail, congo square
our african gods have not been obliterated
they have merely retreated inside
the beat of us until we are ready
to release them into a world that we
re-create, a world heralded by the beat
be, beat being, beating being
of black heart drums
heart beat heart beat heart be/at this place
at this place be heart beat be we
beating place in new world space
beating being in place
in new world preserving our ancient pace
our dance is the god walk
our music, the god talk
first thing we do, let's get together
circle ourselves into community
no beginning no end connected together
and singing ringing singing
in a ring
second let's be original
aboriginal / be what we were before
we became what we are, be bamboula
dance, be banza music, and sing song words
which have no english translation
third let us remember
never to forget even when we can't remember
the specifics we must retain the essentials
the bounce the blood flow the feel the spirit
grow energy, must retain and pass on
the essential us-ness that
others want to dissipate whip out of us
but no matter how much of us they prohibit
deep inside us is us
remains us inside
& needs only
the beat
to set
us free
the beat to free us
it is morning, a sun day, a field w/out shade but dark
with the people black of us in various shades
eclipsing the sun with our elegance
we are centuries later now
and still this sacred ground calls us
to remember / to beat / to be
beat CONGO SQUARE be CONGO SQUARE
beat be beat be
remember
—kalamu ya salaam