Papa Legba, open the gate / But not for me to cross / I already crossed / I passed through fiber optic cable / I came with a password / Legba, your door became a login / Your crossroads became a captcha / I type “I have faith” seven times / To connect with my ancestors / But the server says “user not found”
Umbilical cord soaked in silicone / We are not born, we are downloaded / Ancestors come as notifications / We pray with emojis / Umbilical cord, umbilical cord / How do we cut it?
Erzulie Freda, goddess of love / She has millions of followers / She cries live / With a butterfly filter on her eyes / She sells skin lightening cream / For black children to forget their skin / She says “love yourself” / But she has whitened her photos / Erzulie, your tears became monetized / Your sorrow became sponsored content
Umbilical cord soaked in silicone / We are not born, we are downloaded / Ancestors come as notifications / We pray with emojis / Umbilical cord, umbilical cord / How do we cut it?
I danced for National Geographic / I smiled with missing teeth / I showed my shack, my misery / I played the good savage / To earn twelve dollars / To buy a telephone / To photograph my own poverty / To post “grateful for what I have” / Baron Samedi passed by / He said: “Child, you are already dead” / “You are just not buried yet”
Ogou, master of iron / You changed your anvil / For a cloud server / Your machete became an algorithm / Your soldiers became moderators / They cut comments like sugarcane / They explode accounts like bombs / Ogou, I put your symbol on my laptop / But you do not protect me / You protect the one who owns the server
Umbilical cord soaked in silicone / We are not born, we are downloaded / Ancestors come as notifications / We pray with emojis / Umbilical cord, umbilical cord / How do we cut it?
Zombies cross the city / With Deliveroo bags / They pedal without souls / They do not know who stole their spirit / There is a sorcerer with an iPhone / He captures their shadow with a camera / He puts them in a data center / They work 24/7 without pay / They believe they are free / Because they have GPS / But GPS is a collar / A collar without a key
Agwé, master of the sea / You saw slave ships / Now you see underwater cables / What do they transport? / Data, photos, lies / I threw my prayer into the water / Like a message in a bottle / But wifi does not work underwater / Agwé said: “Child, I understood” / “But I will not fix that” / “I just keep the sea salty” / “With your mother’s tears”
I will not dance anymore / For you, National Geographic / I will not smile anymore / For you, corporation / I returned to Legba / I pushed the door / Legba said: “What do you want, child?” / I said: “Give me back my soul” / Legba laughs: “Your soul?” / “You sold it for an iPhone” / “You stored it in the cloud” / “You will not find it here” / “You are the one who must search for it” / “In the roar of notifications” / “In the silence between two likes” / “In the face of your brother” / “In the dust of your ancestors” / “In the dance you have forgotten” / “In the talisman you still wear” / “Around your neck, under your shirt” / “The cord is not cut, child” / “The cord is not cut”
Umbilical cord, umbilical cord / We are not downloaded, we are born / We are not digital, we are alive / Umbilical cord, umbilical cord
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