22M: shadows

On a sunny day

I walk         with my shadow

Moving at a steady pace

my shadow                  does not reveal

any sign of distress

My shadow could even be

SMILING

as if untouched

by recent events

My shadow seems not to know

of a coup

the coup that might mean

the end of my dream

Walking with my shadow

on a sunny day

I see my dream fading

         my hope diluting

BUT MY SHADOW is the sign

Of my RESILIENCE

It was an outrageously sunny day in Frankfurt one year ago, when I received the news of the military coup in Mali. I had shortly been back from Bamako, where I had spent a pleasant week with old friends, and I thought I would be going there again soon. Needless to say, I haven’t been back since. It was the first time that an historical event had such a disruptive impact on my life and future plans. It was also the first time that I realised what it means to be in love with a country and suddenly lose access to it, the first time I had a remote sense of the tragedy of exile and a very sharp sense of the extent of my privilege as a voluntary expat. I might go back one day, maybe soon, yet it will never be the same as back then. Only shadows stay the same.

One year later, Mali is still at war. Struggling for peace, waiting for happiness.

Heremakono.