On this Indian summer day I was cycling along my hometown's river when I saw you sitting on a bench.
Your energy laid-back and easy, dreadlocks dancing around your face, you were soaking up the sun.
As our eyes locked for a second, you offered me the most radiant of smiles. It touched my core.
You offered all the splendor and resilience of your Africa. You probably fled her because she didn't offer you any future,
and God knows what kind of situation you left behind. Yet you also left the land that nourished your soul with its unique
flair for joy and laughter to end up in a gray country where everything is heavy.
In that second I felt shame for the inequity that forces people like you to uproot themselves.
Yet that same second brought your smile containing the Universe, 
carrying us both beyond the illusion of separation. 
Thank you, radiant African man, for infusing that second with so much light
and reminding me what life is truly about.