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Mystic drum - Gabriel Okara

The mystic drum in my inside

and fishes danced in the rivers

and men and women danced on land

to the rhythm of my drum

 

But standing behind a tree

with leaves around her waist

she only smiled with a shake of her head.

 

Still my drum contimued to beat,

rippling the air with quickened

tempo compelling the quick

and the dead to dance and sing

with their shadows -

 

But standing behind a tree

with leaves around her waist

she only smiled with a shake of her head.

 

Then the drum beat with the rhythm

of the things of the ground

and invoked the eye of the sky

the sun and the moon and the river gods -

and the trees bean to dance,

the fishes turned men

and men turned fishes

and things stopped to grow -

 

But standing behind a tree

with leaves around her waist

she only smiled with a shake of her head.

 

And then the mystic drum

in my inside stopped to beat -

and men became men,

fishes became fishes

and trees, the sun and the moon

found their places, and the dead

went to the ground and things began to grow.

 

And behind the tree she stood

with roots sprouting from her

feet and leaves growing on her head

and smoke issuing from her nose

and her lips parted in her smile

turned cavity belching darkness.

 

Then, then I packed my mystic drum

and turned away; never to beat so loud any more.



Mystic drum is a mystic poem. There remains many questions when it ends.

The mystic drum is beating inside the poet and with rhythm of it dancing fishes and men and women. Now poet sees one lady standing behind the tree. She smiles at poet. The drum is still beating. It has power that dead also begin dance and sing with their shadows. It invokes the eye of the sky, sun, moon and river. The trees begun to dance, men turned into fishes and fishes into men.

But then mystic drum stops to beat. Men became men, fishes became fishes. Sun, moon, and trees found their places and dead went under the ground. Poet sees that whoever was standing behind the tree, roots are sprouting from her feet and leaves are growing on her head. Smoke is coming from here nose and her smile became dark. After that poet packs his mystic drum and turned away and never play the drum aloud.

Here poem ends. So questions remain like what is the mystic drum? Is it a real drum or poet's heartbeats? Who is she standing behind the tree and why roots, leaves and smoke begin to come out of her? Readers read the poem in different way. Some say that drum is symbol for tradition of Africa which is lively. The lady standing behind the tree is outsider who intrude into native culture. It spreads and destroys  lively culture. Another interpretation can be given like drum is heartbeats of the poet. He falls in love with the lady behind the tree and so surrounding seems magical. But she was maybe actually a ghost. After that terrific incident poet's heart never beat for love.

So there can be many interpretations to this poem.


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