The hurricanes - breath of my ancestors

[XXPANTHAXX]

There is this truth that must be told,
its force cannot be contained…
it’s about the history and the mystery,
in the rage of the hurricanes…

For you must know the reasons
why the gale-force winds do blow…
and disburse their vicious vengeance
on some southern states below…

See, the bodies of my people
through the Middle Passage came,
as cargo in slave ships,
so a beast could lay its claim…

Their limbs were battered and broken,
by a heathen with no shame…
who stole us from our homes,
then promptly changed our names…

Now the laws of Cause and Effect,
so appropriately germane,
come collecting unpaid taxes,
in the form of hurricanes…

You thought our spirits were beaten;
you thought our spirits were tamed,
but instead of us defeatin’
God’s temper you inflamed…

Now retribution comes to visit
on the winds of hurricanes…
Storm clouds gather over Africa
full of slavery’s suffering and pain…
They marshal their momentum,
full of vengeful, hard black rain…
dead-set upon America,
as if possessed - or insane...

Since all those cries for mercy,
fell on deaf ears in vain,
you must feel the wrath and fury,
of the vengeful hurricanes…

For the girls you stole from Senegal,
and the boys from the Ivory Coast…
the spirit of their ancestors,
haunt the Carolinians most.
Because of all the slave-ship harbors,
in the many ports of call,
yours were the most insidious -
the evilest of them all…

And for all you island-dwellers,
to whom this verse pertains…
your shores made shelter for the sellers,
of human beings in chains…

Thus the Breath of My Ancestors
forges a spiritual weather-vane…
That plots a course of sorrow,
via the gales of the hurricanes…

In cargo holes
you laid 80 million souls,
like spoons in kitchen cabinets…
But now the winds blow down
your trailer towns,
leaving tents to pitch and maggots...

And the laws of just requital -
extracting its just do…
Says you must pay
for the games you play,
Louisiana and Florida too…

So if the next gale winds you hear
evoke real fear,
and the terror seems inhumane…
it’s just the Breath of My Ancestors,
in the spirit of the hurricanes.

© Ty Gray-EL, Sept. 2000

[Raha]

I thought this was well-written.

However, I don't agree with the sentiment that the poem conveys.

Not at ALL.

P.E.A.C.E.

[Jalili]

Very powerful piece, thanks for sharing

[Sourakhata]

This is a very strong poem! I like alot the 'mystique' that emanates from it !

It has always struck me that Hurricanes form themselves off the costs of Sénégal & Cap Vert Islands, and the more they approach Americas bursting through the Ocean, the stronger & the bigger they are..!
They are the expressions of Afrika's powerful nature...Nature which is for me the incarnation of the invisible, the ungraspable force of the Spirits of the Ancestors..!

This poem is deep, very deep Brother XXPANTHAXX! I take it as a natural mystic.

Bro' Raha, do you mind sharing with us what you disagree in this piece? I'll be curious to know. Asante Sana

Originally Posted by Raha

I thought this was well-written.

However, I don't agree with the sentiment that the poem conveys.

Not at ALL.

P.E.A.C.E.

[Fenix]

Powerful piece. I dig it.

[Raha]

Originally Posted by Sourakhata

This is a very strong poem! I like alot the 'mystique' that emanates from it !

It has always struck me that Hurricanes form themselves off the costs of Sénégal & Cap Vert Islands, and the more they approach Americas bursting through the Ocean, the stronger & the bigger they are..!
They are the expressions of Afrika's powerful nature...Nature which is for me the incarnation of the invisible, the ungraspable force of the Spirits of the Ancestors..!

This poem is deep, very deep Brother XXPANTHAXX! I take it as a natural mystic.

Bro' Raha, do you mind sharing with us what you disagree in this piece? I'll be curious to know. Asante Sana

I just have a HARD time grasping the concept that the Spirits of OUR Ancestors bring pain and devastation to OUR people in the form of Hurricanes. Sure, white people die in hurricanes, but a lot of OUR people die in them, too.

That would be like me saying that tornadoes are the wrath of our Ancestors for those who were killed by racist white people in the Midwest.

That's why I take Hurricanes simply for what they are: they are powerful storms that people should be prepared to face if they live along the coast or in the Islands.

Again, powerful piece (no doubt), but I refuse to believe that Hurricanes that cause damage to OUR people are the Spirits of OUR Ancestors. It seems rather blasphemous and downright disrespectful to the Ancestors as well to our people who have died from the Hurricanes.

P.E.A.C.E.

[Sourakhata]

Life & Death, Creation & Destruction are part of a cycle that no one can escape from when they come from Nature & the Elements, they sometimes surpass our power of mere mortal beings even when you are well prepared to face them, it has always been likewise for mankind & nothing won't change that, we have to accept that and be humble.
Many traditionnal cultures, beginning with Afrikans have always interpreted the fury of the elements like an expression of spirits & invisible force, there's nothing disrespectful about that I think, it's just spirituality no more no less, some call it Animism.
Asante sana for your reply.

Originally Posted by Raha

I just have a HARD time grasping the concept that the Spirits of OUR Ancestors bring pain and devastation to OUR people in the form of Hurricanes. Sure, white people die in hurricanes, but a lot of OUR people die in them, too.

That would be like me saying that tornadoes are the wrath of our Ancestors for those who were killed by racist white people in the Midwest.

That's why I take Hurricanes simply for what they are: they are powerful storms that people should be prepared to face if they live along the coast or in the Islands.

Again, powerful piece (no doubt), but I refuse to believe that Hurricanes that cause damage to OUR people are the Spirits of OUR Ancestors. It seems rather blasphemous and downright disrespectful to the Ancestors as well to our people who have died from the Hurricanes.

P.E.A.C.E.

[BlackQueen]

Very well written,brother!

[JAH - GREEN]

A hurricane is a utterest saddest being's cries...Many level down after him or her, increasing to notches of the distortions of joy, elation and bliss...Is this how it is a living in the down-south ?

And the reasons of the current cries have gotten as distorted as the way-out...what's next ?

Think About Your Binomee !!!

[Raha]

Originally Posted by Sourakhata

Life & Death, Creation & Destruction are part of a cycle that no one can escape from when they come from Nature & the Elements, they sometimes surpass our power of mere mortal beings even when you are well prepared to face them, it has always been likewise for mankind & nothing won't change that, we have to accept that and be humble.
Many traditionnal cultures, beginning with Afrikans have always interpreted the fury of the elements like an expression of spirits & invisible force, there's nothing disrespectful about that I think, it's just spirituality no more no less, some call it Animism.
Asante sana for your reply.

I understand that Death is a part of life, etc. I have no problem with Death (I don't fear it at all). I just have a problem with the assumption that the fury of nature is an expression of the Ancestors when that supposed fury kills our people. Are we saying that the Ancestors fury (if it is manifested in storms and the like) is without a conscious? That it is not meant to be explained? If that is the case, then that is cool with me (I know that there is a lot in this world that is not meant to be explained), BUT if the Spirits' anger causes them to create devastating weather like Hurricanes, then there should be some sort of consciousness, right? If there is, then does it make sense to attack the coasts and islands where our people live?

Just a thought.

P.E.A.C.E.

[Sourakhata]

I hear what you say brother Raha..!

Have you ever noticed the duality that resides in the gods, spirits, or supreme beings in many religions & beliefs that can be loving, caring but also vengeful & destructive towards humans?
Have you ever heard or read of the Ancients saying that they have been punished by their gods because of having done a bad thing, or because of neglecting a ritual?

Have your heard of Adam & Eve being punished by God because of having eaten the forbidden fruit, condemning them to experience suffering on earth?
Is this God unconscious? When he provoked the flood on earth, did he act consciously or unconsciously? Was it a way to punish man & woman?
Either way it's a question that i can't answer, but one thing is sure many people believe in this biblical episode..!! Just an instance.

And Seth (King of the sterile & barren desert), and his brother Osiris (king of the fertile delta and rich nile banks ) both personifying (among others) nature that can feed and protect & nature that can kill and destroy to put it simply..!
Or even the Hindu goddess Shiva one of the member of the Trimoûrti along with Brahma et Vichnu. Shiva reprents the Absolute, the destructive principle but also the regenerator of the world, both giving death & birth.

The confrontations of opposite force either within one entity or several entities are numerous (very numerous) in mankind religions in general & in Black People's in particular so there's nothing shocking, disrespectful or surprising that some view on a spiritual level that Spirits of the Ancestors can create destruction and pain as they can spread love, peace and happiness..! It's self-explanatory, it's how human condition is, it's how life is.


I'm sure you know Sticky Fingaz's song "Oh my God" from the album The Autobiography of Kirk Jones where he supposedly has a direct talk with God and asks him questions about life? I like that song because it rightly tackles this dichotomy of human life & beliefs that I'm trying to make you understand, maybe music will help :


[Sticky]
But why let the suffering go on why not just stop it?

[God]
In order for anything to exist, so much is opposite
How can there be left if there was never right?
How can something know death if it never knew life?
How can you lose, if nobody won?
How can it be dark if there was never a sun?
That which is not grandeur, the soil still blessed
Form must exist for part of themself to manifest

[Sticky]
But I never asked to be born, I hate my life
And if you are God dammit then show me the light
And tell me- what's the meaning of life?

[God]
The process of all life
is an ongoing, never-ending process of recreation of self

[Sticky]
Is God a he or she is there one true religion?

[God]
I'm the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and ending
We are all one and everything is living

[Chorus]
If you could talk to God, exactly what would you say?
If you could talk to God, exactly what would you say?
If you could talk to God

[Langalibalele]

Excellent poem, my brother! I have no struggle with your art.

[Fenix]

In many religious systems, the gods strike out against their people for disobedience, wrongdoings and other reasons.

If the ancestors feel wronged by us, then it makes sense that they are lashing out and trying to make us understand something.

[JAH - GREEN]

Sticky Fingaz...

It's self-made choice, you amuse yourself the deeds you want...

His light is his binomee...ok, lol ! Fixing to act, not acting without a fix...!

Like the hurricanes, the saddest being on Earth feels now sadness cloud emptied.

[Sourakhata]

Et donc? J'aimerais pouvoir réagir sur ce que tu dis Frère, mais je t'avouerai que ça m'échappe..!

Originally Posted by JAH - GREEN

Sticky Fingaz...

It's self-made choice, you amuse yourself the deeds you want...

His light is his binomee...ok, lol ! Fixing to act, not acting without a fix...!

Like the hurricanes, the saddest being on Earth feels now sadness cloud emptied.