From the Hilltops
I will pray / For the Black child who has never dreamed of height
From the hilltops and the mountains
— That be and those that still rest in imagination —
From the dust they came from to the dust we shall become,
From the peaks we have seen to the ones we will create,
I will pray
For the Black child who has never dreamed of height
I will set free my voice from its cage,
And let my whispers into the night turn into shouts,
Allowing the cold air to breathe life into my words,
Turning them into chalk on blackboard
I will turn
To the one in whose palms we rest
And ask that
As we fight the cause of our calloused hands and our undistinguishable rage,
We are kept forever in His hold.
And I will sing!
Perhaps my voice,
Like a mother bird’s chirp in the morning —
A call to fulfillment and comfort,
Will bring ease to my people
Soft rain pitter-patters on to the grass
I raise my head and in the blue of the sky I can feel elders, once among us
Lifting the seeds of the new generation in prayer
Oh, how I yearn to be among them!
And I keep on telling the mountain,
To keep its praise for me
Until another day.
Jummai Umar is a writer and poet from the South, although Nigeria is home. She likes reading about social issues affecting West Africa and the Sahel and Black Muslims. In her free time, she likes to write, laugh, and listen to music.
