the poetry of doctor/poet Agostinho Neto

There on the horizon
the fire
and the dark silhouettes of the imbondeiro trees
with their arms raised 1 in the air the green smell of burnt palm trees


On the road
the line of Bailundo porters
groaning under their loads of crueira


In the room
the sweet sweet-eyed mulatress retouching her face with rouge and rice-powder the woman under her many clothes moving her hips on the bed the sleepless man thinking of buying knives and forks to eat with at a table




On the sky the reflections
of the fire
and the silhouettes of the blacks at the drums with their arms raised in the air the warm tune of marimbas


On the road the porters
in the room the mulatress
in the bed the sleepless man


The burning coals consuming consuming with fire the warm country of the horizons.


Agostinho Neto , Medical Doctor and a Poet, he was the first President of Angola.

Pastel Drawing by Amitabh Mitra