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 blood stained monument of tutelage In those days There was painful laughter on the metallic hell of the roads And the monotonous rythm of the paternoster Drowned the howling of the plantations Of the bitter memories of the extorted kisses Of promises broken at the point of a gun Of foriegners who did not seem human You who knew all the books but knew not love Nor our hands which fertilize the womb of the earth Hands instinct of the root with revolt Inspite of your songs of pride in the charnel houses Inspite of the desolate villages of Africa torn apart Hope lived in us like a citadel And from Swaziland's mines to the sweltering sweat of Europe's factories Spring will be reborn under our bright steps. ('The Vultures',by David Diop) The theme of the poem is
A. Vultures B. Oppression of Africans by European colonialists and the African's hope for Independence C. Swaziland's mines and Europe's factories D. Bloodstained monuments E. Books without love
