Sara Basrai - I saw Obama become President, Idi Amin
1972
Uganda, Uganda, what did I do wrong?
Land of fruit and lush vegetation
Waiting for the train to come
Walking on the rails that my father made strong
Idi Amin told me to leave
Good bye fresh oranges from trees
The steam has long gone
I wonder who walks on those lines now as I grieve
Taken by bus to the airport, nothing in hand
Why Idi didn't you like my kind?
All I did was to work hard
And pray and tread happily through warm, silky sand
My destination the United Kingdom
I walk silently, softly through my new land
Once a great colonial power,
The home of Shakespeare, on the edge of Christendom
Idi why did you send me away?
They don't want me here
But I will work hard again, let me pray
In my prayer room in Leicester, alone with the fears of yesterday.
2008
But now we return to Kampala
Our journey has been long
We're older now
The Indian Ocean will hear our song
I stand on the shore looking to India
At the dhouws that bought us
But we're older now
I sigh and will make no fuss
I've made a home in England
So though I see the fruit trees
We're older now
I've grandchildren there to please
England has changed us, Idi Amin
My grandchildren are mixed-race
We're older now
Life moves at a slower pace
I watched Obama become president yesterday
What Idi Amin, does your ghost have to say?
We're older now
But I see the promise of a better world
So I will take India, Uganda, England and America
And any other land
And mix them within me today
What Idi Amin, does your ghost have to say?
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