an anglo american
grown in the western sun
of a small town
where the peach blossoms bloom
and the wine vines spread
raised above
the desert floor
wings spread across
the rocky mountains
the tall pines
the corn fields
the flat lands
the blue ridge
and ivy dense forests
the city bustle
far in the corners
of new england
and the deep
where the fish swim
and the water chills
down
down
down
to a vast lake
named victoria
people
people
people
earth smell of
rain soaked green
an unfamiliar scent
a city smell of
burning
burn
burned
to a village
a banana plantation
maize
6 feet
tall
tall
tall
18 hands
quaint
yet strong
and jawlines
sturdy
and eyes
steady
a new home
but a visitor
still
a visitor
always
muzungu
muzungu
white person
white person
words flavored kind
in admiration
from the mouths
of which
speak
but flavored
bitter
in the heart
receiving
oh how it feels
when you are called
exposed
whiteness
an unusual
flavor of cream
in the inward parts
of the
pearl
a disposition
somehow lighter
somehow dirtier
skin speckled
with a murky
history
darkened
by the light
color
the story
feels
wrongfully told;
the admiration
an innocent misperception
especially at the hands
of those who come
in the name
of saving
the blood stains
from generations
past
remain
on your hands
and when you
come across
oceans
to save
all you do
is
strangle
wash your hands
wash your feet
know the stain
the red
soil
of your
own land
before you
step
onto holy ground
wash your hands
wash your feet
identify
your whiteness
with
the pang
the sting
the burn
the ache
of a generation
of your land
that came before
and that
bubbles up
even still
the name of
saving
it is no new thought
of the
light
ones
to internalize
a belief
of some better
moral standard
of some more
in-tune goodness
but so the story goes
that the
elephant
and mouse
threw a party
and the elephant
danced
and at the end
the elephant looked
for his friend
and found him
trampled
by his own foot
keep watch
my friend
wash your hands
wash your feet
do not trample
do not attempt
saving
it is not for you
to save
for we all need saving
even you
Lovely, haunting and beautiful.