The difference between African and American culture is so stark, says the poet, that it is a challenge even to understand himself. In Kenya, terrorists were revolting against the very cultural impositions that he himself must accept voluntarily, because in America, his role is somewhat defined, and his identity as an African does pigeon-hole him in some ways. His mixed identity and mixed emotions make dynamic, image-filled poetry.
The poetry also confronts the issues of nighttime and sea-faring. In "The Sea is History," these associations are explored with Biblical comparisons. He reflects on the chaos of facing the ocean, and also the chaos that the ocean brought to Africa when Europeans started their colonization of it. These emotional associations are re-discovered in "Night in the Gardens of Port of Spain," which describes life as an underworldly, nocturnal journey.
Together, the poetry could be said to suggest this: Life is far more complex and difficult to understand than the cultural narratives around us will indicate. Therefore, identity is always a journey to understand, because people change in different situations, like the poet, and because time is a strange element to life that seems obvious, but is truly mysterious. As time goes by, the events of the past linger in the poet's identity.
