Poetry from Cheikh Darou Seck, Abdoul Lahad Seck and Deguene Ndiaye

Porquoi by Abdoul Lahad Seck

Pourquoi pour trouver du travail
Doit on mourir comme du betail
Apres des milliers de kilometres
Dans l' eau salée, sans maitre?

Pourquoi pour retrouver sa dignité
Doit on être traité avec vanité
Alors qu'on est bardé de diplomes
Decernés par les plus grands domes?

Pourquoi avons nous une vie si precaire
Legere et fragile comme du calcaire
Dans une Societe de plus en plus fermee
A nos valeurs si bien aimées, sublimées

Pourquoi tant de souffrance en 2021
Pourquoi tant de stress en 2021
Pourtant le Soleil se leve encore à l'Est
Comme il se couche toujours à l'Ouest

Pourquoi, pourquoi, pourquoi
Des questions encore pour toi
Suivi de ton silence coupable
De tout ce don't TU es capable

Nous avons la plus belle planete
Gardons la pour nous et pour les notres
Mais Aussi pour les vies à venir 
Car elles en ont besoin.elles aussi

Why? (English Translation)

Why,
Why should anyone die
In the search for work,
After thousands of kilometers
In unfriendly waters with no masters

Why should anyone be treated with vanity
When he tries to regain his dignity
Even though he's got so many degrees
From the best and biggest schools

Why should we live such a precarious life
That is so light and fragile like limestone
In a society more and more deaf
To the beloved values that were ours?

Why should there be so much pain in 2021
Why should we stress out in fear in 2021
Yet the sun still rises in the East
Just as it still sets in the West

Why, why, why
So many questions for you
Ignored by your guilty silence
About all the mischief you have done

We have the most beautiful planet
Let us preserve it for us and ours
But for the lives to come later too
Because they too are gonna need it.

Africa by Deguene Ndiaye

Africa, aujourd'hui je vais pas danser
Mes jambes sont fatiguées de bouger
Et je m'interroge sur ton sort
Le sort de tes futurs enfants

Africa, aujourd'hui je vais pas chanter
Tu vois? J'ai la voix enrouée
est-ce donc la mort la seule issue
Pour tous ces enfants sans espoir?

Africa, aujourd'hui je vais pas travailler
Je ne sais que faire ni où aller
Mes diplomes ne sont pas reconnus
Et ma valeur est encore meconnue

Africa, aujourd'hui je vais pas pleurer
Mes ancetres ont versé tant de larmes
Pour des raisons encore inconnus
Des jeunes profanes que nous sommes

Africa, aujourd'hui je vais pas rire
Mon Coeur et mes tripes n' y sont pas
De toute façon y a rien de drole
Alors pourquoi amuser la galerie?

Africa, aujourd'hui je vais pas dormir
Je Pense à tous ces sacrifices
Je Pense à toutes ces victimes
Je songe aux privations ultimes

Africa, d'ici je ne vais pas bouger
JE veux rendre le sourire aux orphelins
Rendre l'espoir aux femmes eplorées
Rendre la virginité aux enfants deflorés

Africa, aujourd'hui je vais pas ecrire
Les muses ne viennent plus
Visiter cette terre aride et solitaire
Que Mon Coeur est devenu

Africa, aujourd'hui je vais fermer la porte
Oui elle sera close aux pies voleuses
Elle sera fermee aux fantomes sans Coeur
Qui perturbent la paix de tes enfants

Africa (English Translation)

Africa, I am not gonna dance today
My legs are tired of moving
And I wonder about your fate
And that of your children to come

Africa, I am not gonna sing today
You see, my voice is broken
Is death the only way out
For all your hopeless offsprings

Africa, today I am not gonna go to work
I don't know what to do, not where to go
My degrees are rejected 
And my value not accepted

Africa, today I am not gonna cry
My ancestors have shed so many years
For reasons that are still unknown
To the non initiated we are

Africa, today I am not gonna laugh
My heart and guts refuse to
This is not funny anyway
So why should people laugh

Africa, today I am not gonna sleep
I think of all the sacrifices
I think of all the victims
My mind is on all the 

Africa, today I am not gonna move
I want the orphans to smile again
I want to restore hope to the sad women
I want the children to regain self esteem

Africa, today I am not gonna write
Inspiration refuses to walk 
On the barren, lonely land
That my heart has become

Africa, today I am gonna close the door
Yes, it will be closed to the robbing birds
It will be closed to the heartless ghosts
That disturb the peace of your children

Another Vision by Cheikh Darou Seck

Change came, the skies turned vivid blue
Light chased away the stranded shadows
That painted the frozen rooftops of hope
Of the yearning souls and brave people

The wind listeners heard the whispers
From the eager promises of young hearts
In the enchanted deceitful gatherings
Yes, promises of better tomorrows
And wider skies
And lighter airs
And bigger seas
Where the immortal intrepid sailors
Battled giant creatures of our times

The angels of mercy spread their wings
In myriad colors like crystal diamond
Sowing beautiful seeds of oak trees
Tilling, digging, replanting the globe

Freedom flags waved in the west winds
Conquering the last skeptical spaces
That were lost to the wandering ghosts
When Hope had departed from this Earth

She was there, this little pink fighter
A tiny figure clad in hope and truth
Among the giant villains of today
In the midst of the battleground

With a tong as sharp as a thorn
She bravely spoke to the leaders
Telling a truth that has torn the hearts
Denouncing, accusing, cleansing

Yeah there is still hope
Sufferings can stop
For rebuilding to start
So that laughter and joy
Inseparable as ever
Can return in the hearts
Of the brave people
Living in this Earth

Reach Out And Feel by Cheikh Darou Seck

Reach out and feel
It is there in the hearts
Invading chests and gutts
Filling the air with glee and joy

Reach out and see
Some light from the ancestors
Whose red earth sodden with tears
Testifies of sufferings and hope
In the aftermath of local battles

Reach out and grab
The roots of hope that were once dark
Nervous and grimy in gloomy days
Yet little rays of light smear the horizon
Reflected shadows under soldiers boots

Reach out and hear
The song of the crow has died in the minds
To be replaced by that of the canary
And there is space for all to breathe
Freedom riding on the silver wings 
Of the immortal and legendary phoenix

Reach out and ride
The Avenues of endless possibilities
Leading to the realm of peace and joy
For all of us and the others to enjoy
Oh yeah, celebrate freedom for all

Reach out and feel
We are all here and not there
Beautiful and proud creatures
Tending, caring and loving
Loving the ones we live with

A Poem to the Long Gone by Cheikh Darou Seck

When the clouds tell stories of ignorance
And the chosen avant guard is unaware
When birds and fish are no longer at ease
Then sunshine turns into daydreaming.

Rivers of illusions melting in nothingness
And the righteous are justices no more.
The silent sobbing of the wronged ones 
Fills the anxious hearts more than once

When rumours prevail over truthful deeds
And palaver trees are closed to children
With void future from murderous waters
Adventurous seafarers of a new kind
Sailing to the unknown shores of despair

When dancers are faster than drumbeats
Silent wailing deafens unprepared ears.
You may not hear it from your pedestal
But the people cry for social justice.