Mother Africa

Written on 24 July in Rwanda:
There is an earthiness about
Africa, quite independent of
the red clay dust which darkens every
surface in this arid season...
a pull which seems to come
from deep within the Mother's
breast...
a sense of being birthed and
nourished by the very soil
on which i walk...
intrinsic...organic...intuitive...
Words fail me, for
how do i describe the sense
of being in the place where
my own DNA began? the
elemental sense of knowing
that this is my first "home",
that all the steps that followed
are a journey of exploration,
leaving Mother's arms behind to
learn, to grow, to become more fully
who i am- all the time
carrying with me, unawares,
the soil of Africa on the soles of
my pilgrim's shoes.