A Poem for Malawi

Africa

Her warm heart surrounds me.
Her smile reflected in the faces of the children
who race towards this mzungu
hoping to say hello or have their picture taken;
Her energy seen turning seeds to maize.

I taste her; she grows mouth watering bananas, mangos, avocado pears and groundnuts and more.
I could fear her as she unleashes thunderous rain that soaks everything…
I could love her under her dusk to dawn canopy of stars and stars and stars and the milky, Milky Way…
Oh my…

I hear her through the ‘boys’ who call out
“Moni Bambo! Hey Boss” or ssst ssss ssst ssss…as I wait in minivan buses or walk on rain worn streets.
Along broken roads; over bridges above mucky brown or soapy white streams; down there where the washing of clothes and bodies is done.

I see her hope, little bundles of it, being carried on the backs of women; women who work from earliest light into the night.

I feel her breath blow softly, thankfully across my face delivering fragrances and odours; sounds and silences from the fields beside me.

She has super sized…
Moths that sound like Cessna’s taking off and look the size of bats
Snails that overflow the palm of my hand
Cacti as big as a mature maple
Giant Baobab trees with trunks that look like elephant feet

Africa…
She touched me once before.
Damned if she hasn’t done it again


© legraham 042010