Moko Jumbi
I
The masked thing dances.
Long stilt legs leap,
sway and swing in abandon
to the tune of steel pans-
pling, plang, pling-a-ling.
.
Peacock proud,
it lifts its orange-purple can-can,
spins and swirls its
layered rainbow.
II
The young ask,
does the devil hide behind the mask?
Will it kick and growl
if we touch it?
Will we melt like metal,
disappear before its steely stare?
Will it banish us to hell?
Should we take refuge?
III
The country devil in you is long dead.
You, who doled out death
to women and the uninitiated,
now mock your ancestors.
Women, under the spell
of bacchanal,
dare you to strike
the deadly blow.
Does the spirit world
cry for its loss?
You now stir laughter
and not fear.
Jumbi, you jam with us,
mock your past,
mask your loss
in the revelry of carnival.
© 07.06.2009 Althea Romeo-Mark
Published in Off the Coast, Maine's International Literary Journal, Winter 2011 (http://www.off-the-coast.com)
Well crafted and poignant.
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