West

They told me to go east.

I went and found the lions,

Beautiful and brave,

Hungry and greedy for my flesh.

I ran southwards for my life

But the ever present color lines soon got confusing

And the hatred began to choke me.

I decided to go to the center of it all.

Maybe there i would find the secret to the puzzle.

I searched long and hard.

I journeyed to the North.

Its pyramids and veiled women,

Left me awed and not much else.

It was not long before I was enroute west.

The Niger quenched the lingering thirst I brought from the deserts.

Kente shielded me from the sun.                                                          

Yossou N’dour nurtured my soul with his dirges.

Ivory, Cocoa and Diamonds fed me.

Crude oil returned health to my parched skin.

West Africa, I have come home!

I love Africa, I really do but there is something about Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Togo, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria..that is indestructible…come Biafra, come the Taylors, come the Does, come Boko Haram, come Blood Diamonds, come what may…West Africa holds the key.

 Song of the day: Angelique Kidjo-Salala