(( FIC : poem ))

[downplaying]

AIRPORT (BA BENEEN)

see you soon
you who are not my country of origin
i pack the few things that belong to me
and head for the airport

i won’t be gone for long
so let us not say goodbye
at the airport

i promise i will return to you soon
i promise that i will come back
but not to here
to this airport

i will return to the warmth of your dark skin
and to the feel of your sandy garments
i will go down to the harbour
from where no aeroplanes fly
and see

before africa’s feet lies the world
not before this insignificant airport

- From French-Senegalese, Lau de C