Home

I wrote this as I was editing the format for Africa. It just came to me and i was reminded of Nigeria and how much I miss it. :-)

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Home is heat and humidity
Hot air like a vacuum that sucks out all moisture
Followed by a flitting flirtful breeze

Home is the hot spicy smell of cooked food
Flavours so intense your mouth dissolves
Tastes that command nothing short of gluttony

Home is the tensile climate
Where my skin glows, my hair shines, my nails pop
My body comes into its own

Home is where I find my rhythm
Where I glide gracefully and strut with pride
I dance like the flames of a roaring hungry fire

Home is where my innate style abounds
Head-ties reach for the sky and jewellery glisten from every orifice
Outlandish outfits are de rigueur

Home is where the colours live
Clash in vibrant war and jostle for space in obscure corners
Dictate the roles and functions of day to day life

Home is where the sounds delight
The dialects of my people sing and heady music guides out feet
The hustle and bustle a reverberating hum

Home is where my customs dicate
Where I kneel unselfconsciously in greeting
Serve unbidden with a happy heart and joyful spring

Home is my family
Where my ancestors and the extended fingers of relatives reside
Home is where my heart lies.