five from Tunes & Tens
Kit Robinson
MARIAMA KABA
After Boubacar Traoré
A heavy melancholy
Dogs my steps
From chicken-scratch yard
To desert trek
A lonely path
A sorry dance
From Bamako
To Paris, France
Always a visitor
Never at home
When I leave this place
Which way shall I go?
Is this all there is?
What can I say?
A rag to wipe
My tears away
The problem stems
From an ancient curse
To talk about it
Would only make it worse
Soon it will be time
For me to be on my way
We will see one another
Another day
BADINYAA KUMOO
After Sona Jobarteh
She is a griot
Like her father before her
A singer of songs
A teller of tales of the tribe
A tribe called everyone
Within earshot
A shot in the dark called time
Tracks on a path
A voice in the night
Fingers on skins on fire
A matter of act
A boom chank in unfolding time
Sing me a lullaby
A lullaby for the child
I used to be
I will sing you a lullaby
A lullaby for the child
You used to be
A lullaby that stretches into pain
A riverbed people
Colonized for gain
Remember old stories
Songs’ refrain
Waiting in darkness
For clouds to break open
For liberating rain
RENDEZVOUS CHEZ FATIMATA
After Orquesta Aragon
Let’s get together tonight
At Fatimata’s place
The son cubano makes us happy
Now you feel it
The people are dancing
Down thru the years
A mix of guarachas
The elegance of style
The sky full of stars
A moonlit night
My heart will never forget
That feeling of happiness
Learn, boy
Climb the scales
Dance on the roof of the world
This music lends dignity to the proceedings
Then explodes in a burst of joy
What are the odds?
Who would have thought?
Is there a parallel universe
Where all the same things happen?
I’m not going off the deep end
The rhythm of life continues
Mountains of eventuality
Stand out against a violet sky
BOLEROS PSICODéLICOS
After Adrian Quesada
She enters to a seductive beat
Stirring potentiality
She wants it all
The ocean, the sky above
The dry sun
Laughter like a motorcycle going away
You didn’t tell me
What you like
To spend time before it slips off
As the ultimate girl would have it
Where are you?
Where are you going
With your love?
Say no more of
The solitude of your torments
Under the sun
You care only for adventure
Do not forget me
The drums signal from afar
Thoughts of you surround me
This longing
Is it slavery or love?
These lips
Want only
The universe
If only
You would accept the truth
The boy with sad eyes
Has been trying to tell you
On the water’s edge
This sleepy fishing village
Ends in a beach
Cloaked in bougainvillea
Under a clear blue sky
This is where I see you
Coming toward me
Please continue your footsteps
Right on up to my door
My house is your house
Now and forever
The longing you mention
Is a way of resetting time
To match the inner resources of this love
That creeps and slithers into the shade
The noon sun casts on the street
She exits through that door
Her mind is made up
Of collective memories
Of Japan, Malaysia, Colombia, France
Places you can only imagine
MABANZO
After Juanita Euka
When you write about rain
Don’t forget about the tears
You shed on the riverbank
Or when moving between sound and bay
The water moves fast through the channel
Memories heap up
Light on water releases the spirit
Words slip the mind
Like the loss of proper names
I would have given you the earth
A walk on the word side
We deploy the vocabulary
Of an aging planet
The people move from south to north
Chord progressions in their wake
Time to take stock
Awareness of compression
The soul of Africa
From where we started
Even though we have no words
For what is happening
We cling to the earth’s surface
Consisting mainly of water
That moves with the mind
Under the sun
Stretching across galaxies
Laughing between waves
Breaking the silence
Of unpopulated space
The truth is real
Only you can break the chain
To soak your frame
In a bath of recollections
Admitting curlicues of thought
The glory of life
The crux of the matter
Sailing away
Over the tops of tall buildings
The repetitions of the heart