Oh. So my name means water in Swahili*?
Water that effervescent element that I float in,
that I tough through despite chlorine
because of how much I love it?
Water, that I have bobbed down the Holston and Toe River in
hitting my butt on the high, but smooth rock surfaces in,
that I have always been the first one in, in
and the last one out in,
that I swim out past the breakers in,
that I swam with the dolphins and sang at the pelicans in,
that touched me all over in, all over, all over in, in
Oh Maji. Oh Maji, me.
Is that me?
Oh Maji, Maji too high, Maji too low,
Maji Maji everywhere but not a drop to drink.
Is that me?
But yes.
As much as they try to contain me,
as much as they try to tame me,
I pour out, or refuse.
I am wild.
Yes.
Maji is me.
I am Maji.
Oh Maji, Oh Maji, Oh, Maji, Maji me!
Maji
- Africa deserves a poem of its own.
I do love the actual feel of water, really of waves, and the "in's"! The wildness part that you touch on is a part I have not realized about water, but does seem a part. Wonderful to find a name the same--how do you know it is pronounced like yours? (I wonder if it is at all related to "Magi"--the Wise Man" What about "Wise Woman"? I guess it is related to Magic...)
I think there is so much to Water...the drinking part, the H2O elements, the life-affirming quality...Mostly I do so love your up-and-down rhythms and images!--mom look up in Genesis! Water is actually holy. And makes us whole...