a poem in praise of remembering~~~~~

In Womanist Spirituality and Popular Music we watched a film called "The Language you Cry In" which chronicles reunited family through the story of a Mende funeral dirge. Interestingly, the song was sung before the slave trade and through the middle passage was transplanted to plantations and passed down by some enslaved African. The film documents a family who through keeping this song alive today is able to trace thier lineage back to Sierra Leon, where the song is still sung though rarely. Please view the film and share your thoughts about it with me here. take a look at the poem which unpacks some of my feelings and physical responses to the work.

a poem in praise of remembering~~~for the mende and the power of song

mendegeechemendegeeche
i know i am home
mendegeechemendegeeche
no longer spirit roams

more generations of mende than i can count
carry the same song in their mouths
carry the same sticky red rice in their mouths
fan and smash rice as children
dig out irrigations with the same dark hands

more generations of mende women than i can count
spread white clay on dry skin
keep an eye on rivergraves
swing in the new spirits
and carry the departed across the water

mendegeechemendegeeche
i know i am homemendegeechemende
no longer spirit roams
more generations of mende than i can count
go back with their tongues
their songs like a bread trail to the village
go back with their cries
their tears streaming clay away from skin
washing up ancestors
go back with their eyes
eyes that surge forth spirit as only eyes can

more generations of mende than i can count
know an offering eaten by the babies is an offering well spent
these strong lean bodies fed by the ancestors
to take the story into tomorrow

more generations of mende than i can count
know their legacy is carried in their cells
in knees that worship ancestors
know their legacy is carried in the heads humbly bowed
know their legacy is carried in working the spirit
like mending the threads of a fishing net

mendegeechemendegeeche
i know i am home
mendegeechemende
no longer spirit roams