I wish I was born earlier

I wish I was born earlier,

When people were still savages

And there was no wave of civilisation.

When men were manly,

And women valued their chastity,

As they value prostitution now.

 I wish I was born earlier,

When young men jumped naked

Without realising the treasure

To be tucked tightly in trousers;

When girls went to the streams

And boys would admire their butts devoid of malice.

I wish I was born earlier,

When ladies walked, chests held high

Without fear of what had sagged,

When they tied adorned girdles around their waists,

And were ready to return soiled sheets after wedding.

I wish I was born earlier,

When things just made sense...

When boys went out to graze animals

And girls went to collect firewood

Then the pair met in the bushes

And came back home late, exhausted.

I wish I was born earlier,

To listen to my grandfather’s poetics

To learn to cook from grandma,

To listen to heroic tales at hearth

Then retire to bed a happy man

With a rounded stomach, full of food

I wish I was born earlier,

When there were no demonstrations

And it was difficult for remonstrations.

When life was complete for the African child

Because he had no worry of tomorrow

This life I’m living now,

Doesn’t seem to be mine

It has been caricatured and curriculumed

And i have no more life in me

Other than accepting to be dragged around

I wish I was born earlier

To just live those savage lives

That our heroic grandparents lived,

And they died titled men      

Eric Lungai