-
November 2008
- LANGAA RPCIG
- Chapter
- Additional Information
83 November 2008 (For xenophobia attacks in South Africa) I peeped through the hole As I saw them passing through the nearby road Men and women of all ages Knobkerries on their shoulders Riffles in their waists Knives in their pockets Malady of hatred printed all over their faces I heard them as they passed: ‘They come all the way from their motherland to take away our jobs. We can’t tolerate this!’ I only knew I was still alive After they had passed on And I whispered to myself: ‘Merciless fellow humans Who fight a brother for a slice of bread And other nations for a land they did not create Fellow humans who forget so easily That barely two decades ago they were scattered sheep all over Africa Some in the refugee camps Others pleading with Africa to form allies’ ‘Through the sweat of their fallen heroes Through the sweat of heroes from all over Africa Through the sweat of heroes from all over the world They all enjoy 84 Making marry from dawn to dusk Smoking ganja until they forget their names Drinking until they forget where they got their freedom’ There I stood nerved-‘dead’ Unmoved, only following with my eyes As I saw them entering the yard of my neighbor ‘Mukwerekwere- foreigner, come out!’- They shouted No questioning time Sparks of brutal knobkerries With my ears I heard: ‘Take everything, then fire!’ No courage to keep watching For my fellow neighbor was now history His little house only ashes Alas! All the way to South Africa To witnesses these demolitions This death This horror The atrocities of xenophobia! ...