What happened?
Long after language has faded
And our customs are forgotten
and we just don’t do tradition anymore
Our existence seems so alien in our own nation of birth.
Is this ours?
What do we make of it?
We are here now.
Here.
Now.
Where is here? When is here?
I need you to answer me. A rough approximation will do.

Question. How did we get here?
I don’t remember.
When did we leave there?
I have a confession.
I’m not sure where there is or how to locate it on a map.
Tell me, when we were first there...who did we live amongst? And dine with? And laugh with?

I like to romanticise our last whereabouts.
I imagine we existed when/where black was beautiful
I think there and here, then and now, all merged into one and we somehow lost all concept of time and place.
As kings and queens, we had this luxury.

Follow up question: Why did we leave?
My memory often fails me.
My recollection of events is a little fuzzy.
Sometimes I have flashbacks.
Of brown and black bodies. Distorted. Damaged. Broken.
I also remember water. I remember drowning. Sometimes the hyperthermia set in before I could.
But this hurts, so I try to quiet these thoughts.


But now we’re here.
Or at least I’m here.
But I never really left there.
I’ve no return ticket.
And I’ve misplaced my itinerary.
So, I guess I'll be here awhile.