believe, I said
not because what does not end is ominous
but because tribulations are a test of strength
slave trade
colonialism
apartheid
were like acid which melts flesh to powder
hear me please, I said
this, my home address, is almost a smudge
a blood smudge
almost like nothing
I squint to see it (14)With a past that is so fraught with “tribulations”, the tendency is to struggle against its
remembrance or discard its memory altogether. The temptation to dislodge such memory
becomes more compelling when the news from the nation, the poverty and the various
pandemics led by HIV/AIDS, find some comparison with the history of African post-
independence crises of political instability, and economic sabotage made poignant by the
syndromes of “extraversion”.^82 The reflection borders specifically on African nations like
Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Conakry, DRC, Zambia, Kenya, among others
(16-19). Indeed, “all is here from the past”. This may be why Linda insists her lover-co-
narrator must “speak of the future” (19). But in the contemplation of the future, the past,
symbolized by the ancestors, must not be forgotten. This is also one sure way of ensuring
the place of the nation. In other words, even when you must “go away”, the commitment
to the land of the ancestors remains crucial:
give us strength and wisdom and council to make life liveable
Africa of our ancestors
of the lush and diamonds and gold
of flora and fauna
of dapple variety
Africa
of diverse languages
issues forth their wisdom and knowledge
knit us into land of our ancestors
and let harshness of now pass
for we are your children82
According to Harri Englund (2002:19), “through processes of extraversion, the external politico-
economic environment has become an indispensable resource in the pursuit of power and authority in the
internal politics of Africa.”