At A Glance Poem by Phillip Nine Mafunga

Children are singing and dancing
The religious songs at the background playing
Yet there is an eerie quiet from a distance approaching
Why are the young people so agitated?
Who has given them arms of war?
Where are the elders of our communities?
Is conflict and war the answer?

Being black and on the continent is not enough to be African
Feeling black does not qualify one to be African
The continent must see you, receive you and treat you as one
I see many black people on the continent who are not African
Those who steal from future generations are no African
Those who plunder her resources for personal gain are not African
You are African when Africa has received and treated you as such.

Brothers quarrel and fight, but they never kill each other
Unity and peace do not mean absence of diversity of opinion
Because we are black it does not mean we think alike
Because we do not think alike it does not mean there is no unity
Even though I look exactly like my grandfather, I am not him.

Phillip Nine Mafunga
11 September 2019