The Other Side

Akati, dai ndiri shiri ndaibhururuka (If I was a bird, I'd fly away) He awoke with a start, driven by the hope in his heart Envisioning the road and steeling his soul to depart The sun hadn't risen, the village was cloaked in the dark Recalled the words that he was given when they showed him the chart Said it was marked by the tears of those who had marched, before him Through lands dry like a throat when it’s parched As he left the world he knew, where social order falling apart Lives were cut short by explosions and shots Thought about those he was leaving with rivers filling in his eyes His heart's prize was only a season from giving life. She was both the reason, and a hinderance to his flight But the seed she had within her needed for him to fight If he crossed the water he could provide, break the ground for them He was frightened but he had vowed to pay the price for them His wizened mother came and she gave him all of her savings Then she prayed for him, caressing his face he heard her saying May the winds blow you till you find safety and peace May the ancestors guide where you placing your feet May there be kind ears to hear every prayer you speak  Coz you got a desert to beat, and it ain't for the weak  Find life on the other side And don't forget to write from the other side So he walked through the Biting cold of the night, sweltering heat of the day Through sandstorms, on damned soils never kissed by the rain He walked until his feet were numb and started bleeding through cracks Walked while others fell by his side defeated by the trek Until he reached the crooked tree, was told this was the sign Then he saw the two men in a truck weathered by time On the ride he thought about what the future could hold Welcoming his family into a beautiful home Arriving in the city, that's when he discovered the cost Required to cross was thrice what was stuffed in his socks And now he had to find work under hellish conditions Hardly ate, he put away every cent he was given Found encouragement from a brother who was also from his village  Promised to find each other, when they both their journeys were finished That's the vision, that anchored his thoughts from slowly drifting While dealing with animals who abuse you because of pigment The water could be a grave, and crossing was for the brave And those caught by the patrollers would probably be enslaved He saved enough for the passage,  was ready to make his way His friend embraced him, faring him well, he heard him say  May the winds blow you till you find safety and peace May the ancestors guide where you placing your feet May there be kind ears to hear every prayer you speak  You got the waters to beat and it ain't for the weak  Find life on the other side And tell me what it's like on the other side A hundred or so tense bodies in a black night floating Over the ghosts below in waters thats close to frozen Fear trying to choke em, so their worries are unspoken Conscious of the mortal danger, keeping ears and eyes open  A child softly cries and his mother tries to console him Mumbles a prayer that he'd be among the chosen Lights approaching, they wonder if this is the gates opening  Or guards to take em to cells with no hopes of due process Is it life-vests or iron chains Now will they find rest or die unnamed  Conquerors of land and water with no power of deciding  Their own fate, now in the hands of those who find them Meanwhile, behind them, buyers are invited to an auction  Where the products are people who found themselves without an option A prophet once asked "tell me what's a black life worth" Melanated flesh is still the cheapest on the market  The sea muffles the solemn cries of stolen lives Those with stunted wings who dared to dream to approach the skies He floated to shore, drifted for forty miles They were too many for the size of the dinghy so it capsized Its another form of freedom right Now on the other side, but his mother waits for a letter that won't arrive Its another form of freedom right And though his lover cries, glancing at his child and is reminded of his eyes But business is brisk, smugglers still making a killing Say they gotta eat and they only taking the willing Those desperate enough to put their lives on the line Imagine what they are fleeing from you think their out of their minds Packed like sardines on vessels never built for high seas They just tryna live, praying the tears in their eyes cease While people chant slogans so borders are fortified They want em all deported, but they ain't thought of the other side