You say I walk faster than my shadow <br />And why not <br />There are too many shadows in Africa <br />Gloom, defeat, despair <br />All are in me <br />But I must transcend them <br />I must be what I must. <br />To the African jungle <br />White enslavers came with gun powder <br />To shoot me down if I ran <br />Like a monkey. <br />I was to go with them in chains <br />To the Americas. <br />I was to work their farms <br />I was to die if I fell sick. <br />The row-row water turned my belly <br />In big ocean-going vessels. <br />I was told to hush hush <br />Even when I would cry aloud. <br />When I got to America <br />They changed my name <br />Onyenachia is too long <br />You must bear Samuel. <br />No problem. <br />They give me a spade and <br />I begin to swot <br />Dig in <br />Dig out <br />Oops - are you tired already? <br />You black man silly - <br />Crack of the whip <br />And I begin to swot again <br />Dig in <br />Dig out <br />Work till dusk. <br />I pray <br />God I am sick of this <br />I need you to save me. <br />And he does. <br />The white man does no work <br />But soon he is tired of keeping me <br />Working for him <br />So he orders me to leave. <br />I rejoice <br />And return to the dark jungle. <br />To my chagrin <br />The shadows are still there <br />Gloom, defeat, despair <br />All are still in me <br />But the faces of my brothers are changed <br />They do not recall me. <br />Hello? <br />Even my language is strange <br />I plead <br />Shriek <br />Persuade <br />Coax <br />They cannot understand me <br />I am sick again <br />Not with row-row water <br />But with aloneness <br />I am sick sick sick of it <br />I pray <br />God help me <br />And he does. <br />Soon I must return to America <br />But not as a slave <br />Not as Samuel <br />But as Onyenachia again <br />A free man <br />Onyenachia Munachim.<br /><br />samuel nze<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/shadows-in-an-african-jungle/
