The streets rumored “he came a changed man”

A boy, overwhelmingly stripped of his roots

I stood in the midst of it all, with my sunglasses

I replied “I didn’t struggle to remain the same”

Lonely in these words, straight into their ears

Faith as tiny as a moringa leaf

Healthy, but with an emotional baggage

Lifting everything dead on these shoulders

On the routes to my home, where I was born

I levitated, yes I have grown and I have evolved

But I am not more than the rest of you

I came back to the land of my birth a stranger

My home feels different, even the taste distant

The eyes judged me, “you act too different”

Yesterday a man accused me of acting too white

Said my heart must be filled with thorns

Pricking everything my home has made me

“Drown your new self into the river” they said

These words grew feathers and they swallow me

Now, I am drawn between new and old

And perhaps my home has changed to love me

Home for me will be where my heart feels alive

Where eyes don’t stammer when they see me

“Live” they should say to their brave son

And I shall share with them the gifts of my journey