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24 The chameleon’s wish It is not my wish That I move slowly Hesitantly Beating the ground’s warmth Like all ground is hot porridge It is not my desire That I take hours to traverse the road Sometimes trodden up before achieving my goal To cross over to the other side All is by custom Habits of my ancestors Their custom was never to hasten hastily Nor to move forward instantly My elders, This they taught: That I keep watch before my next step That I watch my country-side before my next step That I watch the earth I tread upon before I set foot That I capture prey with my magnetic tongue That I change my clothes a hundred times a day That I think before I act That I hold tightly on to my heritage And, that I cross the river when I get there 25 Who then are you to instruct: That I throw away my humanness like a fool throwing bath water with the baby That I scorn my own values like an unthinking zombie That I disregard my elders like a hoodwinker That I uproot my own roots like a foolhardy That I deny my forefathers like a confused cockroach? To hell with your hocus-pocus and hoity-toities! Don’t you know that a chameleon is a chameleon? So I am, I remain one That’s my wish ...

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