When the Cinema Came to My Village

When the Cinema came to my village

It was the biggest thing ever

My brothers and I

Sat on sand

In front

Was a big white cinema

I remember how Rambo

Killed everyone

The Terminator, Commando,

Bruce Lee, Shaolin Tempo

These people fell from tall buildings

Then stood on both feet

The next day, a 13 year-old

Climbed a tree and jumped

Well, he was no Rambo

So don’t wait to hear what happened next

When the Cinema came to my village

Old men laughed to expose their toothless grins

When people kissed, they covered their faces

Eish, these wazungus love each other!

I remember  a boy asked me,

“These people are bad, how can they burn

Their houses instead of giving us?”

I am still thinking of the answer,

But I know what the audience wants

So, back then,

We shaved clean to be like Shaolin Tempo

We made small plant guns

And became Commando

The problem is that along the way,

Hollywood didn’t scout for talents in this neck of the woods

Poem shared with

Imaginary Garden with Real Toads