Thursday, October 20, 2011

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.