What more do you want of us?

What more do you ask of us
Deity of the depths
Beyond the cola with six lobes
And the palm nuts of the two headed tree?

We have brought the chameleon and his powder
The cricket and his drums
What more do you ask of us
To salve this your hunger foaming all night

The goats were fat and fresh
The yams long and fat
We have danced around the fire
And yelled into your wind
What more do you ask of us?

This your anger that throws fits all day
Has eaten the cock and still boils
Has eaten the palms and still boils
Has eaten the earth and still boils
What more do you ask of us?

You have taken your priest
As you have his father and his father before him
Now you must accept supper from strangers
Supplications from cast-offs
Sacrifice on broken pots

What more do you ask of us,
But boulders and rubles from afar
Soil borrowed from our enemies
Craft learned from the spirits
To meet your anger.

Our roots are in this soil
We will not make our nests in the air
Our roots are in this soil
We will not breed beneath your waves
What more do you ask of us?

Deity of the depths
Meet us half way, that is our prayer
Still your anger, that is our request
Return our soil, that is our demand
What more do you want of us?

Do not expect sacrifice from our king
Nor supplication from his court
Deity of the depths
The palace is on stilts, as you can see
Their boats stand at the ready

What more do you ask of us?

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***the sea is eating our coast
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