A F R I C A

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When you have acquired a taste for the dust,

And the scent of our first rain,

You’re hooked for life on Africa,

And you’ll not be right again.

Until you can watch the setting moon

And hear the jackals bark,

And know they are around you

Waiting in the dark

When you long to see the elephants

Or hear the coucal’s song,

When the moonrise sets your blood on fire,

Then you have been away too long.

It is time to cut the traces loose,

Let your heart go free,

Beyond that far horizon

Where your spirit yearns to be.

Africa is waiting – come, come!

Since you have touched the open sky

And learned to love the rustling grass

And the wild fish eagle’s cry.

You’ll always hunger for the bush;

For the lions rasping roar,

To camp at last beneath the stars

And be at peace once more.