4.8.24: Mansa Musa

He could have fulfilled 
the required Pilgrimage
a year later.
He should have embarked 
upon his compulsory Hajj
a year earlier.
He could have detoured 
audacity and caravan around,
instead of through, Kemet.
His encounter should have
been less fateful and
He could have bestowed
fewer gifts, so no tongues 
would have tasted the golden 
tang of greed; no exaggerated 
tales of truth would have 
migrated north upon rumor’s 
convincing wings—nesting
within European imaginations.

He could have just remained
home and unknown.