Europe Learns About Africa Poem by KYOMUHENDO ATEENYI

In a pride,
They surged forth like hunting leopards
And found you black beloved
Jumping to the rhythm
Of the dance with pod rattles
Affixed tightly on your legs of talent.

In shock and awe
Of the handiwork of your finest drummers.

You were attentive and quiet
Listening to legends of the bold
As told by the old
In the glows of Bon fires
Long lit by your ancestors.

Yes, they found you admiring the shining spears
That were brandished by your warriors
And beaten by the finest smelters of the land.

They also saw the beautiful colobus monkey, Engeye
Gliding to and fro as in jubilation:
They mellowed at the untamed loveliness of your plains
Whose soils were supported by deposits of the cleanest Gold.

For this journeying pride,
Africa was a long and winding road
On which they were to stamp the footsteps of civilisation!