Dislocation

If irony is the key register of African life
The uneasy remedy is the splinter of ice
We are modern travelers who wear masks of civility
Still, we are forever accused of disturbing tranquility

Internal displacement gives rise to a fraught sense of normalcy
Heads down and at a remove, we write a new script for this modernity
Above all, we share the great longing for truth and reconciliation
The underlying condition of the exiled soul is dislocation

Dislocation, a Playlist

A soundtrack for this internal displacement (spotify version).

• Traveling Miles by Cassandra Wilson
• (If You Ain't) Comfortable by Lynden David Hall
• Forgiveness and Love by Meshell NdegeOcello
• Victims of Comfort by Keb' Mo'
• Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd

I nominate this piece for The Things Fall Apart Series.

File under: culture, observation, poetry, perception, displacement, immigration, identity, exile, Africa, Observers are worried, Things Fall Apart, toli

Writing log: March 16, 2021