Africa Smiled
Africa smiled
A little
When you left.
"We know you,"
Africa said,
"We have seen
And watched you,
We can learn
To Live
Without you,
But
We know
We needn't
Yet."
And Africa smiled
A little
When you left.
"You cannot
Leave Africa,"
Africa said.
"It is always with you
There inside your head.
Our rivers run
In currents
In the swirl
Of your thumbprints.
Our drumbeats
Counting out your pulse,
On the coastline,
The silhouette of your soul."
So Africa smiled
A little
When you left.
"We are in you."
Africa said.
"You have not
Left us,
Yet."
A poem by Bridget Dore