The Life We Have Lived Poem by Goodenough Sakhile Dlamini

Don't remind me of the life we have lived
Running, fighting for survival
Leaving our homes and hide, before the revival
Resisting colonialism, it was hard, for them an archival
Little babies crying, inside huts
With no mercy they burned down all our huts
Reminiscing inside our hearts
Taking all what we have
Being a slave in our homeland, can't refuse
Abandon all our point of views
Being careful of what you sing
Being careless of what you need
Please don't remind me the live that we have lived

Hopeless life without any voice
Silencing our perspective by blood
Our brother and sister being chained like dogs
Tortured, killed without sympathy
Here then we cry to God to whom they used to gain rule
Put people in chain and say it is a promise land
Delivered to the dark minded place
I said don't remind me of the life we lived
With that fear without voice
With that tears without verse
With that spears without guns or worse
Telling us to pray but blood continue to split, even the brave
Telling us to grieve but our life continues to grave.

Women scream and man groan electric chair,
Questions inside their heart,
'why telling them truth? '
'Why letting them know that we are evil
but covered by angel's gowns? '
Our life is ruined by slavery in our veins
Our life is bound with pains of our past
Our scars still bleed fresh blood
But it is the life we have lived.