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Why?



Some folks have asked, with all the shit we have in our country, I stay.
Here's a poem which says it better than I could.


And if it doesn't induce some of you guys to come over and ride our trails,
nothing will!

> >> >
> >> > Why? (for Zimbabwe)
> >> >
> >> > Why stay, when all around crumbles
> >> > As friends wave good-bye
> >> > why remain, despite the tugging fear
> >> > Why hang on so fiercely?
> >> > Why?
> >> > I look out my window and my heart fills
> >> > and my eyes fill, but no tears fall.
> >> > Why ?
> >> >
> >> > Blue skies that stretch forever,
> >> > sometimes burning hot, searing
> >> > with sunscreen and cokes and kids and braais
> >> > Sadza and boerewors and beers and wine and talk and
>laughter....
> >> > Oliver Mtukudzi, or not.
> >> >
> >> > Driving to the farm, or the lake, or the dam, wherever
> >> > swirling dust on bush roads
> >> > Msasas and Mopanes and Baobabs
> >> > kopjes tumbling over each other
> >> > Friends I've known all my life.
> >> >
> >> > Bouganvilla, Pointsettia, Flamboyant and Jacaranda
> >> > Lusty colours that are not ashamed
> >> > Wide streets and mad drivers
> >> > and red lights that mean go while you can
> >> > and people who still help when you break down
> >> > on the side of the road ....
> >> >
> >> > Sometimes a glorious sunny day,
> >> > a caress after rainy introspective spells
> >> > or after cold winter days
> >> > to revive the spirit.
> >> > To sit outside and soak up
> >> > to be joyous and thankful.
> >> >
> >> > Doves and go-away birds
> >> > and even crows.
> >> > Birds of every colour, flaunting.
> >> > Whilst inside a friend,
> >> > the childrens' second mother
> >> > makes tea and conversation.
> >> >
> >> > Steely and tumid, huge skies,
> >> > cracking apart with lightning
> >> > thunder claps  shaking the ground
> >> > the smell of the first rains
> >> > soaking into the parched earth.
> >> > and a power cut brings out lamps and candles.
> >> >
> >> > Sunset, when  the blue canvas is painted in swirling
>glory
> >> > and a hippo grunts his warning,
> >> > a fish eagle gives her soul cry.
> >> > That haunting pull.
> >> > Gin and tonic or a beer, hands dirty from putting worms
>on hooks,
> >> > The day's catch in the net........
> >> >
> >> > A game drive to see God's gifts
> >> > Elephant at play by the water's edge,
> >> > Shy buck and lowering buffalo
> >> > Towering giraffe
> >> > Bushpigs with tails in the air, babies scurrying after
> >> > A hyena loping past
> >> > the predators wake...
> >> >
> >> > Then the stars come - is there no end to your glory?
> >> > And the night sounds
> >> > and the edge that is Africa
> >> > hidden eyes shining......
> >> > distant drums,
> >> > smoke
> >> > african voices.
> >> >
> >> > Aah those african voices
> >> > that whisper in the night
> >> > some that plot and scheme and hide their eyes
> >> > so as not to see what is being destroyed
> >> > others that smile into your eyes and ask how you are
>today
> >> > and take your child's hand
> >> > and shake it solemnly
> >> > and in that short gesture
> >> > there is more in common
> >> > more acknowledgement than
> >> > you will get anywhere else
> >> > no matter how efficient or prosperous
> >> > or safe.
> >> >
> >> > So I stay because I am an alien anywhere else
> >> > and I don't know what to do anymore to keep you safe
> >> > except not to desert you.
> >> >
> >> > Pippa Douie  Africa Day 2000
> >> >
> >>
>>
>d
>



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