We Delighted, My Friend
We delighted, my friend, in an African presence:
Furniture from Guinea and the Congo, heavy and polished, dark and light.
Primitive and pure masks on distant walls yet so near.
Taborels of honor for the hereditary hosts, the princes from the high country.
Wild and proud perfumes from the thick tresses of silence,
Cushions of shadow and leisure like quiet wells running.
Eternal words and the distant alternating chant as in the loin clothes from the Sudan.
But then the friendly light of your blue kindness will soften the obsession of this presence in
Black, white, and red, O red like the soil of Africa.
Furniture from Guinea and the Congo, heavy and polished, dark and light.
Primitive and pure masks on distant walls yet so near.
Taborels of honor for the hereditary hosts, the princes from the high country.
Wild and proud perfumes from the thick tresses of silence,
Cushions of shadow and leisure like quiet wells running.
Eternal words and the distant alternating chant as in the loin clothes from the Sudan.
But then the friendly light of your blue kindness will soften the obsession of this presence in
Black, white, and red, O red like the soil of Africa.
Translated by MIRIAM KOSHLAND.
From ANTHOLOGIE DE LA NOUVELLE POÉSIE NEGRE ET MALGACHE,
Presses Universitaires de France.