Third World Poem by Mariam de Haan

My lecturers say it.
My classmates say it.
My friends, family, people on the street
All say Third World.

We throw it around so often
We can't hear the inferiority.
Because Third World can never be First
As if the poverty has made us worse.

Wealth has become our measure,
And the lesser is the poor.
But when I went to the villages, they always had more.
They had forests, while we had a garden.
They had rivers, while we had a pool.
They had mountains, while we had a swing.
So who is the lesser?

And who is the Third World?
Asia, South America, Africa
But have you ever seen or been there?
To the extent that you call us poor.
I grew up in Africa, Tanzania.

Have you ever seen the sun rays hit Mount Kilimanjaro?
Have you ever been on top?
Walls of glaciers to your left
The crater in a valley to your right,
The way down behind you
In an instant, in front of you is the peak of Mount Meru.
And you can't see below you because there is nothing but clouds.

Have you ever seen the migration?
Thousands and thousands of wildebeest
Running, walking past you.

Have you ever been to the waterfalls of Nakuru, Kenya?

Have you ever driven past the rolling hills of Rwanda?
Stripped aside the stereotype of genocide.

This is just a taste of the Third World
Bear in mind I've only mentioned four things
There are hundreds more
Not just nature but also culture

Have you ever talked to a Third Worldian?
Do you know the legend of Gustave, the legends we tell?
Have you ever listened to the stories?
Have you ever spoken the languages?
Amharic, Quechan, Khmer
Have you ever danced the dances?
Have you ever heard the music?
And I don't mean the genre 'World music'
Bongo Flava, Zilizopendwa, Mongolian throat singing, the songs of Bollywood

You think money is the only form of wealth
Because of this you have set the North-South divide
And we have become inferior.
Yes we don't fit your standards of developed.
Yes our wallets are thinner.
But come visit us and you will see,
We are NOT poor!