Before a Common Soil

Before a Common Soil

Let this then be your understanding,

You sons and daughters of the ancient stars

That your home reaches beyond

The earth which is your home.

May you go forth across the land

And with the movement of flutes

Celebrate your blessings

May you catch the shifting of the light

At the tip of the flute’s tongue;

And may you ask of the darkness

That it remain with you lest the light lose sight of whence it came.

Yes, I have heard song

The power of which was not of this world

Though the singer of it was in this world;

And I have called out to you,

Children of an undivided earth,

That you join your hands together

And be of one accord before a common soil—

Lest the rivers cease to water the land,

Lest the voices of the singers be forever stilled.

Yes, I have heard song

The power of which was not of the world

Though the singer of it was in the world.

-Ifeanyi MenkiK