My Worldview Poem by Joseph Cimanuka

Are we children of the same world?

If you claim we are,
Where is our brotherhood—
Like children born
Of the same mother?

Why do countless borders
Stand between our homes?
Why do wars and massacres
Divide us
Like the children of rival wives?

Or is this 'brotherhood'
Only an ideology,
A word you wield
To strip me of my garment,
Clothe yourself in its warmth,
And leave my nakedness
To the burning sun?

Yet you still insist
We are children
Of the same mother.

Better that I stand alone,
Wobbling on my trembling feet,
Than stand upright
Leaning on a hypocrite;

For the hand
That lifts me today
May release me tomorrow,
Leaving me to strike the ground
With broken bones—
And a broken trust.

Joseph Cimanuka all rights reserved