MY BAPTISM OF FIRE FROM DESERT BIRDS (For M.L. Reed in the USA who reads my Facebook poems and told me rrecently that he had just bought my collection of peoms entitled THE COWRIE NECKLACE, published by Langaa and available in good bookshops throughout the world and online) It was a long, hot day And all alone I had been trailing the last unmanned camels But it was more hit and miss and hide and seek I wasn't myself Because I had just lost my lovely red rose So imagine my surprise when Dehydrated, parched, drained and amorphous I at last spotted a pool. From nowhere whatsoever, I was seized by unspeakable and indescribable energy The kind that enables a mother to topple a heavy truck And free her trodden child from danger. So I rushed to this timely standing and waiting pool Ready for a drink When I got nearer, I decided I needed a bath instead, a cold bath So I threw my whole being into it But lo and behold it was sand Raw, crude, uncouth, harsh,hot and burning sand Oh, how I hurt myself! As I lay there, a swarm of birds flew up and hovered above my head Some mocked me and made rude gestures with those wooden beaks of theirs Others provoked me and said, "Rise and come if you're a man!" Some even deliberately dropped faeces on me Steaming hot excreta on my head, on my shoulders, on my back, on my laps Just those parts my spouse likes to touch. Then all of a sudden they all swung round As if directed by a choir master And started chirping away at a song All of them, singing in perfect harmony! I couldn't understand their language But I clearly heard "kok!kok!kok!" Then they swung round again, this time looking north One of them, the only one with a beard flew forward, halted in the air, Looked down at me in the hot sand And then opened its beak and down came a folded piece of paper that landed on my neck It read " You denied us water yesterday. Today we also deny you wanter." After I finisged reading the provocative message, I looked up to ask them one or two questions But they were gone Gone to the last man, if at all they were men And I was left with my legion of questions Stuck in my poor mouth. Come to think about it They claimed I denied them water Me? When? How?