Empire's Heart Poem by Frank Bana

I had to live in Empire's heart
Like a slave who could not find escape
Drawn by magnets, bound with ropes
Swept by dragnets to his fate

And my daughter had to grow up there
On the fringe of passing luxury
Where for blessings of humility -
There was little, it was late

It was not the dark Congolese heart
Nor the dry sweet Kalahari too
Where fish-eating is taboo
And they do not drain the lake

Where the flood is coming fast
Bearing minnows, beasts away
She will hold tight to the mast
In the ruins of the day

Where it's not permitted to be sure
To predict or realize
If the Emperor or we will hold
The burden and the prize

Now my feet seek daily for the touch
Of secret garden dew
Bound in history to wait
For the peace I thought I knew.