{"id":103279,"date":"2024-08-19T08:37:04","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T06:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acosopov.com\/reading-room\/poetry-shelf\/%d0%bc%d0%be%d1%9c%d1%82%d0%b0-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d1%82%d0%b0%d0%bc-%d1%82%d0%b0%d0%bc%d0%be%d1%82\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T12:13:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T11:13:58","slug":"the-power-of-the-tom-tom","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.acosopov.com\/en\/reading-room\/poetry-shelf\/the-power-of-the-tom-tom\/","title":{"rendered":"the power of the tom-tom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\t\t\tthe power of the tom-tom<\/em>\t<\/h2>\n\tThe sky is dark, and dark the ocean,
\nbut darkest of all is the land.
\nEverything takes cover in the deep recesses of the darkness.
\nBut the sound of the tom-tom severs the gloom with a blast of light,
\nand its two halves bleed like the red lips of the dawn.
\nThe tom-tom is a mysterious sacrament of life;
\nit wakes the living from the deepest dreams,
\nit brings back the dead to dance with the living,
\nand the slaves emerge from their heavy stones
\nto resume their lives, so early interrupted.
\nThe tom-tom intoxicates everyone like palm wine,
\nand all are confounded: nature and man and water and plants;
\nthe tom-tom is a holiday and festival of life,
\nthe tom-tom is universal resurrection.\nThe tom-tom thunders and a new day dawns;
\neveryone leaps to their feet, impelled by their irrepressible blood-
\nliving and dead, sick and incurable-
\nand the dance weaves through the villages, through the savannas,
\nalong the rivers, through the jungles,
\nand rises as an endless rhythm and melody
\nupwards, upwards, to the sun,
\nwhere from the tops of gigantic trees
\nthe Great Father watches with a smile.\nAnd the House of Slaves becomes a luxurious palace and arena,
\nwhere the former slaves now stride in majesty,
\nand, arrayed like princes of Mali,
\nthey compete for the heart of their chosen Signare.\n\tAco \u0160opov<\/a>, “The Light of the Slaves<\/a>” in The Song of the Black Woman<\/i><\/a>, 1976
\nTranslated from the Macedonian by Christina E. Kramer and Rawley Grau,\u00a0The Long Coming of the Fire<\/em><\/a>, Dallas, Deep Vellum, 2023.\n\tListen to the poem in Macedonian
\n(Documentary film “Baobab: games under the canopy”)\n\t\t