Drum Invocation

Cry out to me you old neglected drums,

You sleeping dried flesh of goats,

Stretched across the throat,

Of the hallowed corrugated tin houses,

Of Congo Town, of Bain Town, of East Street.

Cry out to me until you shake the aluminum clappers,

In the cowbell necks of Gambier, Adelaide and Clifton,

So that freed from the enslaving rust of time,

They shall wake Pompey, Elisah Morris and Abul Keli.

From their eternal sleep to sit with me at the fire.

Call them to recount with me that old-old story,

The ancient tale rattled in the legs of Anansi,

Tangled in the trickery of ber Bookie and ber Rabbi,

The story of how Abassi that dazzling warrior

Who wrestled the world from the titan Usulu.

We shall chant down the memories of how Abassi,

Stole the bottomless calabash of the tyrant titan,

We shall exchanged words on how glorious Abassi,

Freed the old gods from the bondage of Nisi the Slaver

And won victory for the oppressed Wanjani.

We shall tell of how Abassi the mighty,

Wielder of Tanjani,the talking spear,

Won the mysteries of life and death

From the ancient lips of Coota the leviathan,

Deep dweller of the Tongue of the Ocean.

We shall shout the triumph of cotton haired Abassi,

How he battled down all of his enemies,

How he broke the back of Simpani the daemon pig,

The evil swine who marched across Andros’ forest,

And how he broke Lillith’s curse over this land.

We shall sing sweetly of why godlike Abassi,

With feet that glitter like polished bronze,

Did these feats, why he set out on his quest.

We shall sing of the love that brought him to our world

The love of his queen the tiger eyed goddess Atai

Atai whose locks once fed the tree of life,

The swarthy bringer of the harvest,

Whose wisdom flows like the Nile.

Atai who captured the heart of mighty Abassi,

Whose voice is like that of the surging tide.

Sound out you drums of Fox Hill, of Kemp Road,

Boom in our chest cavity you tom-toms of Pinewood,

Keep our story true, keep our voices strong,

Keep our memories sure and unwavering,

Keep our fire warm and burning like the soul of Abassi.