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A work in progress
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Sierra Leone - 1999
Thousand of my people die
in a war you don't hear about
while you cry yourselves to
sleep thinking
your
problem
is
the only problem
Gun shots ring
like church bells
while we hide
face down in
puddles of rotting flesh
holding our breath
while you suck air
through a straw
complaining about
the effects of hair spray
on the ozone layer
Buildings fall
bombs ring in our ear
rubble makes our
dark face ash
while you curse
a car bombing
that you see
flipping through
the channels on
your t.v.
You fight over a word
'Cracker' - 'Nigger'
with your home made gangs
'Crips' - 'Bloods'
while our kids are
given guns
turning them into
mass murders
by the age of five
200,000 children soldiers
who know no mercy
only death and pain
Our women are raped
then executed
the men work the rivers
enslaved
by their own people
They cut of our limbs
to delay democracy
'How can you vote with no hands?'
This, the slogan of our land
Infomercial tunnel vision
keeps your guilt at bay
You pay your
'one cup of coffee per day'
to
'Save a child's life'
while your government
lines their pockets
with blood money
We beg for help
from your American
media
who say they
will be lucky to get
three minutes on CNN
They become part of us
trying to keep alive
at any cost
Forgetting the reason
they came to this
land of the damned
in the first place
We are a lost people
in a battle that rages
in places unseen
Everyday we wonder
if today is the day we die
Now, you tell me.
What do you weep for?
