Question Of Note: Why? Poem by Edward Dzonze

We heard them singing from a distance
and our hearts shuddered of fear.
We saw them taking charge towards us,
a mob of youths dressed in sponsored t-shirts
armed with knives to kill,
we saw them salivating for human blood
Fresh scars of apartheid had they all on their faces,
Their faces had no semblance of Ubuntu
except of course their skin
which like mine looks beautifully black as an African's

They chanted political slogans,
shouting and whistling as they
clinched their fists for a fight
The women and children were there also
ululating and whistling as they cheer for more tragedy.
That night the human world cried themselves to aphony
and i for one knew it;
A dark cloud of barbarism had invaded the skies,
The black tarmac road turned red of human blood,
They took fun out of the killing,
the killer acting strange as if a stranger
only but a brother to the victim he just killed out of misdirected anger
I saw it once and i wished i had never saw it.
The dark cloud disappeared,
we celebrated its disappearance
with a pride restored to boast of
Only to wake up to a massive down pour of hail...

Seven years later,
the demon came back glorified by the devil himself,
Hatred was preached to book by a known preacher
the message was turned into action
We saw the hatred on their faces
and i for one knew it -
The boys had come for their unspecified tax.
Enough blood to pain the human heart to tear
was shed in a night,
enough shame for Africa
to wish Mandela would rise from the dead
to re-narrate the gruesome memories
of the Long Walk to Freedom
was brought to Africa again.
Tell us the meaning of freedom
to an African like you, our brothers
Why dear brother tell me why?
Will you tell me why my sister?
If you could, please tell me i am grieving.

The hail came to a halt,
wisdom won the battle over stupidity
Our brothers unclenched their fists for a handshake,
Together we mourned our relatives
Together we shed a tear
to the scars of stupidity we brought on the face of Africa
and together we vowed to speak the common language of peace.

The peace that keep us united,
the peace that makes us an entity, inseparable
an insuperable entity unbounded
by the natural rivers, dams, mountains
and man-made electrified fences dividing the African states
The peace that make us reflect
on our achievements as an entity,
the peace that help us see a brother in another
The peace that breeds in us
a sense of respect for human life,
The peace that commit us all
to the core values of Africa;
Our point of reflection as an entity,
Our point of origin as a people
Oh! heed this call leaders of Africa,
Enact the laws that bind us to our spirituality
and let this blackness
be our sole reason to celebrate life.