I’m not Zulu,
Not southern African,
Don’t even speak a Bantu language
So why did my parents bestow this title upon me?
Because my DNA is the alphabet of civilisation.
My tongue conducts the choir
Of human relations.
Morality is delivered
From the womb in my skull.
I am human.
Interest in others’ welfare is my carbon dioxide,
The winds donate it in directions I cannot see or predict
To feed the impoverished lungs of fellow living beings
Who reimburse my lungs with interest.
Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.
A person is a person through other people.
I am people.
I am Ubuntu.
© One Tawny Stranger, July 2015
