Dear AfricaÂ
Your stories are found around fires
Over meals and handshakes
In street corners and corner shops
In buses and backyards
In living rooms and classrooms
The tourist is not the only lens we use to see you
We use our neighbours’ eyes
And our forefathers’ tongues to look at you
You are recipes passed down generations and generations
You are centuries of traditions and legacies
You are libraries and art centres
You are ululations at weddings and multilingual hymns at funerals
You are complex and beautiful
You have many narratives
You are a fabric with many borders
That ask us where we come from and where we are going
We come from here and there
And then and now
We use the pages of your histories
To map our own futures
We use your stories to see ourselves
And each other
Dear Africa
Our love for you
Unites us
Koleka PutumaÂ
