#TheSealeyChallenge 2023 – day #31 – Henry Dumas – Black Trumpeter

Henry Dumas – Black Trumpeter
from Knees of a Natural Man. 1989

we must kill our gods before they kill us
not because we will to kill but because
our gods think themselves gods
they are only actors who have lost their script
cannot remember the lines, and fake visions
of themselves without mirrors
phantoms screaming without voices

We must kill our gods before they kill us
this then is the law and the testament
with malice toward none we give your warning
when the statue falls the pedestal remains
black birds do not light upon the roots of trees
the wing praises the root by taking to the limbs
we are Americans looking in the mirror of Africa.