Comes the Silence
Today.
Mali, West Africa.
The last part of a story is the silence
That comes at the end.
A time to think, to reflect.
The drums are still now.
They no longer warn us
To beware
Of the men who steal upriver. . . .
Countless numbers are gone forever, stolen.
Griots still tell
Of Musafa,
Who was but one of millions captured;
Of Dinga,
Who was but one of many fathers who mourned.
Loved ones are never forgotten
When we continue to tell their stories.
What father can hide his pain
When his child is stolen?
What mother does not lament
The loss of a son or daughter?
Remember the wisdom of Mother Dongi:
“Kings may come and go,
But the family endures forever.”
Think on that when the silence comes.