Culture Writer Hope Sikolia beautifully describes the landscapes of Africa in her poem “The Wind Does Not Cry in Africa.”

Written by Hope Sikolia
Published

The wind does not cry in Africa.
The flat, wide spaces allow her to move freely
Her waist twists creating a figure-eight
Dancing
Flirting with the blades of grass
Bumping hips with the trees

In Africa
She cools off the children playing in the scorching sun
She sings a song
Of freedom
Of bliss
In Africa she is free;
The wind does not cry in Africa.

But here she wails-
A professional mourner at a funeral –
She begs to be freed
As she is squeezed and violently spat out between buildings.
She roars with anger at those
Who erected the structures that cause her pain;
At those
Who cause her pain-

She cries for Africa.
Her blood is cold.
Her soft feminine metamorphoses into a spear.
She shoves and slaps.
She tosses and creates chaos.
When she is quiet, she is dejected-
She is tired of begging to be freed in an environment unbothered by her pain.
The wind does not cry in Africa.
The wind cries for Africa.


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