Last Rite for a White

What rite gives him the right to write

about his love for Africa:

after all he is only white

no made in Africa sticker

way before 1652.

Some say only black Africans

can go to the head of the queue

from where they can make amends

for injustices done in the past.

Does the same apply to others:

Afro American slaves cast

among “Red Indian” brothers?

But how can they love a land where

they have been but two hundred years:

just like the Australians here

how dare they, in a blink, shed tears?

I understand this argument,

the logic of it seems pretty sound.

What of Obama heaven sent,

will we deny him sacred ground?

Which half of him can we accept:

that part of him which is Kenyan,

perhaps the white part which is left,

or the bit that’s Indonesian?

Can only time give him the right

to love the place where he was born?

What about love at first sight?

Love is love, at both dusk and dawn.