1994: A love poem

Eivind Senneset
I want someone who is going to look at me
and love me
the way that white people look at
and love
Mandela.
Someone who is going to hold onto my memory
the way white people hold onto Mandela's legacy.
A lover who will build Robben Island in my backyard
and convince me that I have a garden
and fresh air, a rainbow and freedom.
A TRC kind of lover.
You don't know love
until you have been loved like Mandela.
You don't know betrayal
until you have been loved like Mandela
You don't know fuckery
until you have been loved like Mandela.
You don't know msunery
until you have been loved like Mandela.
And this is one of the many residues of slavery:
being loved like Mandela.
Koleka Putuma
From Collective Amnesia (2017)