John Grey is an Australian-born poet, playwright, and musician. His latest book is What Else Is There from Main Street Rag Publishing Co., Charlotte, N.C.. His work has appeared recently in The English Journal, The Pedestal, Pearl, and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

It’s been a life-long dream of mine to see Africa but what does Africa get out of seeing me.

I’m in the middle of a market place in Lagos,

eyeing bright red tomatoes in cane baskets,

dead chickens hanging by their yellow feet,

home-made bread with the texture of fused silicon,

cotton dresses, wide-brimmed hats,

elephants carved out of teak.

I’m not hungry to buy but to know what’s for sale.

They don’t even bother trying to sell to me,

figure I have all this and more.

I lap up experience, dust and jostling,

dialects, colored clothes, the clang of coin,

the constant racket of loud bartering.

The people here get, equally for free,

a traveler at the center of their frenzy

but somehow keeping himself apart.

An old woman grins at me through broken teeth.

“American?” she asks. See, they even have a name

for what I’m doing here.

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