Empty in African terms,
is a "coca cola glass bottle."
Strange to some,
but never strange to us.
I grew up as a child,
riding long journeys in something called a "chicken bus."
I knew about robots,
far before TV screens would show it.
But in African terms,
those robots are just traffic lights.
Green to go,
red to stop.
Amber the colour of chance in between,
and only a few would get what I mean.
I grew up speaking our common slang,
calling things a lot, by using the words "a span"
Making jokes with friends,
calling each other bra, calling another a *****.
"The rents",
meant I was referring to mom and dad of the family.
It's a wonder how I didn't fail English,
with all the made-up words we said.
Playing games in the mud,
by 5 o'clock refusing to bath.
As kids we didn't know much;
or anything close to real love.
The silly games we played on the street was all but enough.
Thinking of it back now,
the scars on my legs tell many a story.
And when I have children of my own, the memories I had,
I hope becomes apart of their African legacy.
Kids under the African sun,
how the simple times of life are long gone.
