Skip to main content

Naked Africa

 There are days when I feel quite challenged by things that happen in my life or don’t happen or those unexpected out-of-left-field happenings or those people we all sometimes wish we didn’t have to run into (excepting of course if we were driving a steam roller) but living in Africa keeps me real. 

So when people ask me why I moved back to Africa from Australia, I say this: 

For love 

And beyond that

Maybe living elsewhere for a while helped me understand this place in a different way

It’s not for sissies 

It’s not for naysayers 

There is nothing easy about living here 

It is confronting and it is hard at best and it’s getting harder especially for those who already have so much need

I keep reminding myself always to be kind and not judge the next person because I have not worn their shoes

Nor have I walked barefoot on the scorched earth of Africa

I have not carried water miles from a dirty water point

In two hours time, I will have electricity 

I will eat today. Maybe not like a king but I will eat enough

My bed is dry and warm

I am not alone 

And if you ask me

I will tell you, it is well with me

But my soul is not always settled because 

I cannot always meet the needs of those around me

And mostly, I wish I didn’t have to listen to so many complaints about silly issues from so many very fortunate people who feel they are entitled to this or that 

We are not promised anything

We come into this world naked and we will leave naked 

In a few years we will all be forgotten

What footprints will we leave behind?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

  The Sapling So long we waited  And the time is here  At last A southern wind has blown  The sapling from the vast and distant shore And has returned it full and grown  Home to its root once more The soil rejoices as it feels the quiver of his tread The soil where once he fed Which bled when long ago the little seed took flight And had to fight to grow in foreign land And learn to understand another way But for today  The sapling will drink thirstily and long  And for today he’ll grow Where he belongs 
Post a Comment
Read more
Granny's Hands Granny’s Hands           Hold my hand Granny Tell me again How many times is seventy times seven And what does forgive mean Tell me again.   Granny’s hands have spots all over Tell me again Why does the sun make everything better When tomorrow comes Tell me again.   Granny picks Rosemary and Lemon Verbena Everything smells Of Lemon Verbena Teach me again Granny Those easy lessons Of making things better With Lemon Verbena   Children can live on ripe pomegranates Pork crackling snacks  fresh Apple Pie Two late husbands and burying two children and yet, I only once saw her cry.   The way to fix things was to Unpack your cupboards “Sadness will go,” Granny would say. “Sadness can’t live in nice tidy cupboards,” But what do you do with it? Pack it away?   Granny’s hands were soft and gentle Rough and wrinkly At the same time   Hold my hand Granny Tell me again How many times is seventy times seven times seventy times...
1 comment
Read more

Nighttime Solitude

  Nighttime Solitude A lone peafowl pines plaintively across the darkened land Perhaps to call a mate or warn of passing danger But, I, a stranger do not understand For there are stranger sounds here where the darkened blossoms fall  A whispered footfall of a bushbuck shy, Nearby an owl hoo hoos and Who knows why for I a stranger to this night song of the frogs that sing And silent flight of night bird on the wing  I am a stranger to this safety in the dark  I blow the embers of the fire I made to keep the spark To fan the flame beneath the last log’s coal to burn more brightly For tomorrow I return to home and  Noisy cars and sirens nightly And to sorrow But for now I’ll sit a little longer by this tiny hearth The embers bright Competing only with Moon’s dappled light upon the appled earth And remember all the things I loved and love  put away the sorrow and the sadness for tonight  And ponder in the solitude that  Nighttime isn’t dark It’s just ...
Post a Comment
Read more