We forgot to water the plantain shoots
when our houses were full of borrowed meat
And our stomachs with the gifts of strangers
Who laugh now as they pas us
Because our land is barren
the farms are choked
With stunted rows of straw
and our nightmares of juicy brown yams
that cannot fill us.
The roofs of our houses rot from last winter's water
but our drinking pots are broken
we have used them to mourn the death of old lovers
the next rain will wash our footprints away
and our children have married beneath them
Our skins are empty
They have been vacated by spirits
who are angered by our reluctance
to feed them
in baskets of straw made from sleep grass
and the droppings of civets
they have been hidden away by our mothers
who are waiting for us by the river.
My skin is tightening
soon I shall shed it
like a monitor lizard
like remembered comfort
at the new moon's rising
I will eat the last signs of my weakness
remove the scars of old childhood wars
and dare enter the forest whistling
like a snake that had fed the chameleon
for changes
I shall be forever.
May I never remember reasons
for my spirit's safety
may I never forget
the warning of my woman's flesh
weeping at the new moon
may I never lose
that terror
which keeps me brave
may I owe nothing
that I cannot repay.