Return of the Native

A Claustrophobic Me

Clamours the lebensraum

Of open plains of Serengeti.

Struggling within

Somewhere in my subconscious,

The African gene

asserts its Identity and

claims my Ancestry.

I search my core

For vestiges…

Of The Prehistoric Mother

Whose tools and traits trail

The gray volcanic tuff

At Oldupai and Laetoli.

Amidst bushes of sisal
Impregnating the barren savannas
Clues, pieces of a gigantic jigsaw:

Stones and bones

Fossils and footsteps

Buried under layers of

Dust and Time -

Hold the key            

That’ll set me free!

Note: Oldupai Gorge and Laetoli are prehistoric sites in Serengeti, the heartland of African savannas.