ode to the drum

dancing in the sweltering heat, let that beat renew you each moment of your life.


ode to the drum
by yusef komunyakaa

gazelle, i killed you
for your skin's exquisite
touch, for how easy it is
to be nailed to a board
weathered raw as white
butcher paper. last night
i heard my daughter praying
for the meat here at my feet.
you know it wasn't anger
that made me stop my heart
till the hammer fell. weeks
ago, i broke you as a woman
once shattered me into a song
beneath her weight, before
you slouched into that
grassy hush. but now
i'm tightening lashes,
shaping hide as if around
a ribcage, stretched
like five bowstrings.
ghosts cannot slip back
inside the body's drum.
you've been seasoned
by wind, dusk & sunlight.
pressure can make everything
whole again, brass nails
tacked into the ebony wood
your face has been carved
five times. i have to drive
trouble from the valley.
trouble in the hills.
trouble on the river
too. there's no kola nut,
palm wine, fish, salt,
or calabash. kadoom.
kadoom. kadoom. ka-
doooom. kadoom. now
i have beaten a song back into you,
rise & walk away like a panther.