In my boyhood, said Lakayana,
Looking at the horizon
Where skyscrapers met the eye
Made remember
Once upon a time a spear
His spear sticking outside his Manyatta hut
All went with the river
Forgotten as the river.
I used to watch my reflection in the water while the cows drunk.
I killed an attacking lion once on the plains
All the girls danced around me then
I became a man and
A man could choose
Then.
Ah, in my youth, he sighed,
Straightening his striped tie
Stretching and yawning –
Lions still roamed the plains
Men were noble and wise and
Women were women and
You could see your reflection in the water.