The Drummer

Feel the rhythm of a heartbeat

Hear a song that must be heard

From the Mount of Kirinyaga

Where the Drummer speaks the Word

It’s the message of “uhuru”

As it rolls across the plain

Over Kisumu and Nakuru

Rainbow of healing rain

From Turkana’s desert island

To the Tana River’s end

At the Mara where the lions

For the water will contend

You can hear it, sounds of thunder

As the Drummer takes His stage

On Rift Valley by Mt Elgon

Dance ensemble to engage

Drummer lead us up the mountain

To a place of liberty

Beat our pangas into ploughshares

May our nation now be free

Under the Acacia Tree Music

October 13, 2010

 

The Drummer is a metaphorical image of a new day of peace, justice and freedom in Kenya.  It was written after I saw the results of the chaos of 2008.  Houses and buildings left permanently destroyed, thousands of people displaced from their homes and people denied access to local markets because of their ethnicity and tribal distinctions created a sadness and this resultant prayer for the Drummer…the Word…Man of Peace to take the stage.

Michael Frederiksen