Who Sits On The Mercy Seat Right Now Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

They said if you were condemned to die,
Or run to the mercy seat, yet now
The seat is occupied by those
Whose accusations are hunger and poverty.
They were condemned by
The state of affairs biblical to
Burn at the furnace of powerlessness.
I. have seen their all in trollies
We use in the supermarkets far from
Where we buy food and clothing.

Yet the seat is still open,
And lets in people who care,
Sometimes more about themselves,
And less about the pitiable,
Who open their ears and eyes,
To all the promises they heard.

The next person to occupy the seat,
Is said to be as blameless,
Yet once in the seat, we hear,
Of scandals and scams committed,
And hidden under the rug.

Who can trust those who occupy seats,
For they heard first and moved first,
Their fists in the air, their heads
With hair flying, for they heard
The whistle first. Now the seat
Is occupied. Yet the hands that beg
For mercy are doing so out of hunger.