A familiar story

A man came right up to me.
He asked: "where are you from"
"from France" said I unto him

It was questionable for a man like him to interrogate a woman like me.
Yet,it was an oppurtunity for me to discover the man behind the smile.

He said "No!I mean where are you from?"
Oh!I'm originaly from Nigeria.I said with a crooked smile
"thats what I wanted to know" he snapped.And he continued "you may have a French passport but you are Nigerian"
I looked upon him with a sense of familiarity and disappointment.
After all, he was telling a kind of truth.

For years,I have been told to give unto Ceaser what belongeth to Ceasar
It came like a treason to realise that It would always be my deception.
It was a thing to be born somewhere and another to belong.

It surprises me to hear people question my good english
because, as the man said "I went to Africa but I didn't understand what they were saying."
I am sure he meant south-africa and I am sure they were speaking just like him.

No matter how one tries to speak like them,talk like them or act like them.
one will always be the sun-kissed skin girl or boy, the one with the brown eyes.
The exotic one in many pictures, because the smile is always brighter.


After all that is said and done,the game of life is quite a tricky one.
I would rather not consider life a game but there are billions out there who take if for nothing more.
Ofcourse I am Nigerian,ofcourse I am french.But what do both speak to me?
how do I relate to them?
If it was all about the little paper I have to show everytime I travel from lyon to paris.Then,It would all be meaningless.
I believe that the knowledge of any culture bestows a responsibility upon your shoulders.
It is not about the colour,language or priviledges,its much more a thing of the mind.
I may never be what they want me to be because their expectations are downright meager and inferior than mine.
So,before any of you sing the national anthem or raise the flag,just think!