In Africa Poem by Olutayo K Osunsan

I
In Africa silence and sound are one,
The sun and rain do rein together
And we the people live and die at once.

II
The silence of thin rain droplets tiptoeing on tin roofs,
The sound of heavy women married for years
Weighing the weather to determine whether rain or shine.

III
Children whisper that a lion is being born somewhere
In the concealed secrecy of the African savanna,
Under the shade of an enigmatic tree surrounded by sun and rain.

IV
In Africa mighty kings are born when rain and sun clash
Over the footpaths and the tin or thatched roof of tattered houses.
Shamba boys are born under the exact conditions too.

V
In Africa everything meets; the past and the present,
Modernity and the wilderness, old and young, today and tomorrow,
White and black, slavery and freedom, and of course cultures.