The Last Dance

 

Feet shuffled in time with the drum’s relentless pace

The throbbing music sent hearts into a race.

They had gathered for a celebration worthy of cheer

For the gods had smiled on them this season, it was clear.

Full barns and fat cows filled their wishes,

A joy so deep, no one recalled ever feeling this bliss.

Perhaps their daily sacrifices had borne fruit at last,

Little boys curled in wonder, dreaming of futures vast.

Amidst the swirling dust, no frowns appeared,

For the ever-roaming spirits disliked sorrow, they feared.

With all the wining and dancing, no one sensed the threat,

Not even the elders, praying day and night, could guess it yet.

Then came the climax, a sound both strange and loud,

Louder than the oldest drums, startling the crowd.

Suddenly, chaos—red, fiery, and wild,

Flames consumed their grass-thatched homes, every child.

Whispers of slave catchers had filled the air,

But none believed their walls could ever tear.

In single file, the captured were led away,

To distant lands where they would never again play.

Their faces haunted dreams and hallucinations,

This was the last dance, the last celebration.

Perhaps, somewhere, others still dance,

In the lands they were taken, caught in fate’s trance.