The Tale of the Kenyan Runner
Created | Updated Dec 14, 2011
The Olympic crowds were bustling
round the stadium. The media packs
were talking, phoning, hustling
to write their stories, send them back.
A Kenyan runner stretched a slender hand
to seize the shirtcuff of a journalist.
"I want to tell the story of my land,"
the runner said. His grasp upon the wrist
and troubled eyes surprised the hack.
"What is it that you want to say?"
"I took a break from Nairobi’s track
and travelled north and west for many days
to distant places where my people dwell.
Proud Turkana people. They have raised
camels, goats, for many years, with wells
for water. In early morning haze
I'd see the men, their staves in hand,
escort the herds, while women pounded
maize, dressed in drapes and strands
of beads. Thorn-tree scrub surrounded,
not empty desert. But this time, as we
travelled, we found a land so dry
and silent, that even the toughest trees
were leafless, camels about to die.
The children didn't run to greet me,
but stood in doorways, still and listless.
Just beyond the group of huts and trees,
the village cows were lying lifeless.
The rains have failed another year,
and left the well-holes empty, sand
where crops once grew. The people fear
they'll starve without a helping hand."
"We’ll send them aid" the writer said.
The runner shook his head. "I came
to London in a plane, which sped
across the ocean. And, to my shame
I came to run my race and win the prize.
I saw the Olympic park and wondered
at graceful shapes, impressive size,
delighted when the cheering thundered.
I noticed cars and buses often filled
the street. I stopped and suddenly, I saw
the coal and oil you burn to build
your cities fill the air with ever more
gas to heat the climate of our earth.
So your success is hastening the end
of my people's way of life. Their dearth
of food and water is a growing trend.
And though your country is still cool
and damp, the air that heats my land
will change the climate here. You'd be fools
not to heed the warnings. Understand
this earth is one. All people share
one changing sea, one arching sky.
We need to join in universal care,
to live together, or together die."
