I’ll remember you my country

I’ll remember you my country

I know
I’ll remember you
As I cross the frontiers
Heading to an unknown place for refuge
Memories won’t fade

At my grandmother’s home with friends
Climbing the avocado tree
Splitting mangoes sucking the juice
Splashing into the river
Milking cows and goats

I’ll remember
As I embark on a ship
Heading to a strange land
Not as I would have wished
But forced by the war Lords
Driven by the thirst for diamond and cobalt

A stranger I’ll be in that land
They will teach me a new tongue and new culture
My degree will be worth twaddle
Because written in a foreign language, they will say

I know I’ll miss you my country
Place where I was esteemed
In a strange land I am scorned
With a new label – refugee makwerekwere

Then I’ll recall your warm embrace
Your milk and honey