Kaizer M. Nyatsumba

In my country

beautiful, rich and serene

children no longer sing

of freedom

of heroes fearless

and futures beckoning temptingly

here

where once they frolicked merrily

and sang proudly

silence has descended

wailing has taken over

and the little ones’

once-hearty laughs

are forgotten, gone

gone

the innocence of youth

gone

the promises of a canaan

and gone –

gone for ever –

the once-ubiquitous romantic love

of the night

waifs and orphans

abound in my land

fear

thick and palpable

strides my country

mounds and mounds of soil

proliferate

as the earth waits eagerly

to ingest more

of my compatriots

In my beloved country

where the old is not yet over

and the new is yet to be born

rains have stubbornly stayed away

and drought

menacing and proud

walks the land

vegetation wilts

flowers wither and die

and animals are emaciated

only tears

thousands of people’s tears

fall

here

in this once-beautiful

land of ours

the rattle of murderous cowboys’ guns –

far too many to count –

reigns by day and by night

here

where innocents’ blood

flows ceaselessly

armed bandits are in control

this dry, this arid land

is incarnadine:

in sebokeng, soweto

and the natal midlands

haematic streams flow:

in katlehong, dawn park

king william’s town

and no tourniquet

appears capable

of staunching the flow

In this beleaguered country

what future, my compatriots

can we look forward to

when the sanguinary

are in control

and our rivers have turned red?

what shall we tell

our children –

they for whom tomorrow matters –

when they demand answers?

In my country

beautiful, rich and serene

children no longer sing

of freedom

of heroes fearless

and futures beckoning temptingly