Africa Recalled

Recollections of African friendships/ Last night I sat in the half-dark of the theatre/ watching and listening to Black Umfolosi;/ seeing the ghosts of yesterday/ moving silently in the shadows./ Moyo, Mangate, Takawira, Msikavanhu;/ so close I could almost touch them/ - almost hear their breathing./ I heard the voices calling from the stage/ echoing louder than the distance of time;/ bringing past and present together/ in one loud dreaming moment./ Matambo, Ganza, Bepete, Chapurinyemba;/ all ghosts from the distant past/ - fleshed out by the men of today./ Colin Gordon-Farleigh © 2000