They lie there stretched out by the captive roads, along the ………..roads of disaster The lean poplars, the statues of the dark gods ………..draped in their long gold coats Senegalese prisoners miserably lying ………..on the French land.

In vain they cut your laughter, in vain the blacker the flower, the ………..blacker your flesh. You are the flower of beauty among the first absence ………..nude flowers Black flower blossom and its somber smile, diamond of a time ………..immemorial. You are the mud and plasma of the world’s leafy ………..spring From the primitive couple, you are the flesh of the womb, the ………..belly fertilizing milt You are the sacred profusion of bright, blissful gardens And the sovereign forest, victorious of fire and lightning

The vast song of your blood will defeat machines and canons Your speech throbbing deceptions and lies No hate in your soul, you are not hateful, no cunning ………..soul without cunning. O Black Martyrs, immortal race, let me say the ………..words that forgive.