All directions they give you in Niamey will refer to a tarmac road
They call it ‘le goudron’ a solid reference in a moving world of sand
The shores that divide the sea of tomorrow and the lands of yesteryear
A crossroads where two realities pretend to meet in a world of mirages
The tarmac is the dream of an escape aboard some dark spaceship
But in the end the sand always prevail, it claims all man-made things
The boy and the donkey are kept apart by a big stick, it is the same image
He may beat the donkey to death, then he will have to walk…
Hugh Ardoin The Niamey Streets Gallery