This Land Is Free

LASANA BANDELÉ

THIS LAND IS FREE
This land
Is free
Beautiful
And free
Except for
The stinking jails
And chained minds
In concrete castles
This land is free
Open fields
Breath taking
Mountain sides
Cool
Unfailing waterfalls
When you see
The food
This land yields
You'll see
The land is free
Free, free
Not like
Free food
Or, free for all
But free
As divinity, free
Slaves blood
Has been shed
It has been said
The battle is won
And slaves are free
But as far as
Eye can see
The land alone is free
Come
Wonder in the artistic orchestration
Of sight lengthening varieties
Of trees
Be dazzled
By legions of flowers
Intoxicating, colourful
And wild
Be stolen
By the polyphonic Symphonies
Of Birds
Be smothered
By the punctuating dripping
Of seeds and blossoms
Playing percussive melodies
On dry leaves, rotten woods
And bare ground, classically
This land is free
Except for those
Who are slaves
To their freedom
Who are always
Too hungry to fight
Too fearful to bite
The vampire's hands
Who suck their children's blood
And keep the food
Out of the reach of
Everyone with the will
But not the means to survive
But are always cheap labourers
Building Empires
Never get enough
To appease hunger
Or defuse strife
The land is free
With cooing birds
Cleansing streams
Sheltering hills
Creatures of many kinds
But not free of
oppression and grief
For the man
Chained by the brain
Who can't see
He
Is but a scum
If he keeps
Fighting for crumbs
Instead of
To be free
Lasana Bandele
(c) 1986 8.11.86
(p) 1986 Storitela Publishing Ltd.
LBP-161-sp

One Love!!!