The Vultures By David Diop

In those days 

When civilization kicked us in the face

When holy water slapped our cringing brows

The vultures built in the shadow of their talons

The bloodstained monument of tutelage.

In those days

There was painful laughter on the metallic hell of the 

roads

And the monotonous rhythm of the paternoster

Drowned the howling on the plantations.

O the bitter memories of extorted kisses

Of promises broken at the point of a gun

Of foreigners who did not seem human

Who knew all the books but did not know love.

But we whose hands fertilize the womb of the earth 

In spite of your songs of pride

In spite of the desolate villages of torn Africa

Hope was preserved in us as in a fortress

And from the mines of Swaziland to the factories of 

Europe

Spring will be reborn under our bright steps.

Poem Analysis

Line 5  tutelage  state of being under the guardianship or teaching of another, referring here to the colonial state.

Line 8 paternoster  the prayer Our Father

Line 10  extorted   forced, referring to the liberties the slave-owners and colonial masters took with the women under them.

Line 19 Spring   is the season in cold countries when the snows of winter begin to disappear, the sun emerges with more force and things begin to grow anew. It is symbolic of new life, of rebirth.

What are the conditions in the poem that made the poet angry?

What are the differences he draws between the colonisers and the Africans, and the kind of hope he has for the future?

Do you share the poet's feelings?