Christopher Okigbo: Elegy to Alto

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(with drum accompaniment)
AND THE HORN may now paw the air howling
goodbye…
For the Eagles are now in sight:
Shadows in the horizon-
THE ROBBERS are here in black sudden steps
of showers, of
caterpillars-
THE EAGLES have come again,
The eagles rain down on us-
POLITICIANS are back in giant hidden steps of
howitzers, of
detonators-
THE EAGLES descend on us,
Bayonets and cannons-
THE ROBBERS descend on us to strip us of
our laughter, of our
thunder-
THE EAGLES have chosen their game,
Taken our concubines-
POLITICIANS are here in this iron dance of
mortars, of
generators-
THE EAGLES are suddenly there,
New stars of iron dawn;
So let the horn paw the air howling goodbye…
O mother mother Earth, unbind me; let this be
my last testament; let this be
The ram's hidden wish to the sword the
sword's
secret prayer to the scabbard-
THE ROBBERS are back in black hidden steps
of detonators-
FOR BEYOND the blare of sirened afternoons,
beyond
the motorcades;
Beyond the voices and days, the echoing
highways; beyond
the latescence
Of our dissonant airs; through our curtained
eyeballs,
through our shuttered sleep,
Onto our forgotten selves, onto our broken
images;
beyond the barricades
Commandments and edicts, beyond the iron
tables,
beyond the elephant's
Legendary patience, beyond his inviolable
bronze
bust; beyond our crumbling towers-
BEYOND the iron path careering along the
same beaten track-
THE GLIMPSE of a dream lies smouldering in
a cave,
together with the mortally wounded birds.
Earth, unbind me; let me be the prodigal; let
this be
the ram's ultimate prayer to the tether…
AN OLD STAR departs, leaves us here on the
shore
Gazing heavenward for a new star
approaching;
The new star appears, foreshadows its going
Before a going and coming that goes on
forever…