No Primus Inter Pares

No Primus Inter Pares Germans at the Costa Brava they just cannot yield ‘Brava’ the fight and they are conquering once more Always the first on the beach or the striped deck chair but The towel goes right up front and then they have breakfast They claim their place in the sun and colonize the pool I’m not a racist am German myself light skinned at dawn Prejudice Discrimination Stereotype or double innocent vision When too much sun meets a squinting eye of any beholder Ready with parasol and sombrero and not enough lotion To make sure I blend colourfully in and pretend I am native Ingenious maybe but indigenous nowhere near but at my home Not first under equals just one of the travelling circus’ crowd I stake my claim forget all about physics in diabolical parable Parabolic distant same old points and lines but when will I learn That the sun scorches at high noon whatever I attempt That horizons only widen when travelling in much truer fashion Far and further afield immersion in less indifferent ventures Brings me closer to peace to my own roots unburdens my search I’ve seen the Taj Mahal under a midnight moon shadow absorbed The Grand Canyon looked for precious Yellow Stone wisdom Pyramids at Giza tear gas at Tahrir Square caves in Cappadocia Never setting sun in Rovaniemi Omaha Beach and trenches in Belgium I took local busses towards nowhere with no imminent return No plan no target no defined ambition not steps merely ticked Call me a voyeur in slums townships or favelas a frotteur with no towel But I was made welcome once I shed my emperor’s colonial clothes My luxury problems became smaller when I returned to the start The gifts of the present the past and my very privileged future One way or another I cannot and need not shed European origin But my Universe has become less ignorant and a bit more unsure 23th July 2018