i
A dark stranger
My heart searches
Him out
“Papa!”
ii
An old man in white
Calls me “mama”
It does not take much
To know
He wants me for
His wife—
He has no teeth
But is kind.
iii
The American from
Minnesota
Speaks Harvardly
of Revolution—
Men of the Mau Mau
Smile
Their fists holding
Bits of
Kenya earth.
iv
A tall Ethiopian
Grins at me
The grass burns
My bare feet.
v
Drums outside
My window
Morning whirls
In
I have danced all
Night.
vi
The bearded Briton
Wears a shirt of
Kenya flags
I am at home
He says.
vii
Down the hill
A grove of trees
And on this spot
The magic tree.
viii
The Kenya air!
Miles of hills
Mountains
And holding both
My hands
A Mau Mau leader.
ix
And in the hut
The only picture—
Of Jesus
x
Explain to the
Women
In the village
That you are
Twenty
And belong—
To no one.