This rich earth.
This culture
our ancestors
bequeathed us.
This culture
we shall
in turn
bequeath.
The savannah,
the desert,
the rainforest.
The shore of the Atlantic,
the Indian ocean,
the Mediterranean.
This is blood.
Old blood.
This bitter aloe vera.
This sweet honey.
This gourd,
this kora.
This, the shield
and the spear.
This, the barrel
and the bullet.
This, the earth
from which we come.
The earth that shall
in time
consume us.
This is mother nature.
The land of the baobab tree.
The soil,
the greens,
the barks,
the roots,
the lakes,
the rocks.
The wind blowing across.
The rain,
the clouds,
the mud,
the stream.
The buffalo grazes.
The Lion sleeps.
The peacock flaunts.
The snake slithers.
Moths flutter.
This, the plane.
This, the field.
This, the marketplace.
Colours bright,
faces glistening under
the sun.
I am of here.
I am an African.
hassanwanini 