Adut Loi Akok
When I saw a Masai dancing
Adumu in the sky like a red big bird,
And his wife stealing glances from far,
I almost lost my sense of identity.
When I saw the Yoruba tribe
Titling their trunks and twisting
their waists in honour of the Bata,
I almost lost my sense of identity
When I saw the Zulu
Men whose roars scare the lion
And women whose voices wake
The sun from its grave to join the
Indlamu dance of warriors,
I almost lost my sense of identity.
When I saw the Acholi dancers
Kicking up the dust of Gulu ground
Like the flowers of Duk, all in round.
As generations come with Bwola
In blood, scudding beautifully to
Honour the colours of cranes,
I almost lost my sense of identity.
When I saw Nubians in Jarjar
Dark as I wish I could be,
Women to whom their skins
Africa is Painted with.
Majestic like the antelopes of Boma
And like the Gazelles of Mongalla.
When I stare at their men leaning forward
From the hips as they drop in Arageed
On the west bank of the Nile,
I almost lost my sense of identity.
When I saw graceful Berbers dancing
Tanoura on the street of Cairo and Alexandria
As I realize Africa is the mother of
The earth and the sun and all the stars
With colours of our blue and white eyes
Reflecting upon the waters of the Nile,
and the cloudless sky,
I then almost lost my sense of identity.
When I recalled the memories of how
My father wrestled down the tiger
And hunt the wild elephants.
When I stand alone here like the tallest tower
In Nairobi city and watch our cows
Pasturing on the Sudd,
Our wrestlers singing in unison and
dancing Dergël on the Toc
I just regain back my sense of identity,
And dance like them till dusk
By Adut Loi Akok, South Sudan. 🇸🇸
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