based on Chinua Achebe's novel of the same name.
Who is this stranger?
His skin--it is white
White like the stars
That shine through the night.
Who is the white man?
Why has he come?
He preaches one God;
The Father and Son.
How does this white man
Expect me to turn
Against all the lessons
My ancestors learned?
My brothers, or some
Do not share my view
They believe what these 'Christians'
Are saying is true.
Those who are left
Are cowardly fools,
And destroying myself
Is all I can do
When the knives of a stranger
Cut the bonds of men's hearts
And only one thing is certain:
Things fall apart.
Author's Notes: As I said at the top, this poem was based on Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart. It was about African tribal life and the invasion and conversion by the Christians. I chose to read this book for school (there was a short list of books that didn't sound very interesting); but I found that this was an excellent book--perturbing, surely, but moving. This was part of the assignment I had to turn in--which, by the way, I got 100% on. ^_~ The poem doesn't stray from actual events in the book, in case you needed to know. Hope it made sense to you; thanks for reading! ~MJ