Mutabaruka; Dis Poem

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 nothin' 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, rascism, fascism
The Klu Klux Klan riots in Brixton Atlanta, Jim Jones
Dis poem is revoltin' against first world second world
Third 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 s 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 need to be changed
Dis poem is a rebirth of a people
Arizin' awaking understandin'
Dis poem speak is speakin' have spoken
Dis poem shall continue even when poets have stopped writin'
Dis poem shall survive you 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' you 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 CIA files the KGB files, dis poem is no secret
Dis poem shall be called boring stupid senseless
Dis poem is watchin' you tryin to make sense from dis poem
Dis poem is messin' up your brains
Makin you want to stop listenin' to dis poem
But you shall not stop listenin' to dis poem
You 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