This Garment You See Poem by Francis Kokutse

They who have journeyed like me
have so much that others do not have.
We have seen things that the naked eyes
cannot see and the brain cannot imagine.
This journey that has taken us over the
seven oceans of life and its woes has
many lessons that you cannot get
without tasting this life we have tasted.

My garment with the holes in it
just shows how far l have come;
it tells a story of my life and how
unfulfilled it has been to me;
it gives confirmation that my intestines
rumble daily because they cry to be filled;
my soles, with the cracks is just picuture
to tell you the story of where l have come.

For some it may make them laugh
but poverty has visited me without
my calling for its visitation and when
it knocked on my door, l did not open
but it came like a whirlwind and swept
away all my hopes and left fears.

So, do not wonder why l still walk the streets
as if l was the prince of the village;
we those who have seen what l have seen
do not worry about where we can go again;
we do not worry any more about what
tomorrow will bring because we have seen
where tomorrow has brought us in life.

What we know is that this garment could be
washed and look clean and its holes filled.
We have no knowledge when this would be;
That is why we keep practicing the dancing steps
of the royals waiting for our turn to come out
when the drummers change our tunes for us.