I am “Houdini”…
With a twist that could only
Be found in African hair
That knows no products.
I have escaped wealth and wellbeing
For as long as I have known
And I have known, in part,
The warmth of my brother’s blanket
Because five is a crowd
And six is one on the ground.
And I’ve never done well
With crowds anyway
So often I would escape
My brother’s blankets
To sleep on the tile-forsaken floor.
My current location is adjacent
To regions of eternal damnation.
And soon as I escape from this here
Under and make it back
To the earth’s surface
And as soon they explain to me
That the reason they called off
The search
Was because they thought the mine was mine
So they reckoned
I would find my way back.
And as soon as I escape
The haunting question;
Would they have called off the search,
Had I not escaped the colour
Of my skin sooner?
I am gonna escape
The colour of my skin.
Of course, I can, I’m “Houdini”…
