There
is a beast with five heads that rummages the land.
It
devours the earth that bore, burning the crops that feed us,
And
eats away the season’s harvest;
When
the farmer has broken sweat, it breaks his hoe to two!
We
are helpless, we are hapless. How can we fight?
When
everywhere we turn, it eats the road before us…
The
one face it hides in the cushioned comfort of tinted four wheelers,
Without
a care for the millions that suffer its apathy
As
it feeds on their blood, its talons clawed deep so they won’t run.
It
slumbers in exotic silk. Lumbers with exotic dinners-
Not
a care to our famished bellies and tarpaulin housing.
The
one head wears wigs and boots, pretends to be our friend
But
puts us in iron cages each time we cry out,
Stifling
our voices with a wild smile at the fall off its gavel.
It
takes our sons in the dead of the night. Beats our old men with its sticks and
guns.
And
then it says, “I am here to protect you”
The
other calls itself our voice- its sly arms wrapped tight round its rotund belly-
But
one by one, our children die in cold hospitals jammed with the stench of
Hopelessness,
While
those who survive are turned to vegetables in the schools they build.
Our
produce rots on the bad roads it promised to fix. Still it is mute,
Lest
it runs out of promises if it takes away the problems that bind our feet.
The
one speaks of hope, wears celestial garments and teaches us foreign tongues-
‘We
must keep our peace’ it says ‘this is not our home’
But
how shall we keep our peace and bide this home without a name,
When
we pay to build its house, and feed it with the sweat of our labour
While
we are left with nothing but rags.
The
one is the head without a face. The head we cannot see.
Its
eyes are as many as ours. Its ears even more, reaching places even we cannot.
It
is the thief that cannot be heard. The silent teacher…
It
steals away the ways of our people, replacing them with those we cannot
comprehend.
It
is everywhere and nowhere. It is the heart of the beast!
© 2009
