I have to be careful what I write
What words I use
I must avoid names
I must not name names
It would be like a death sentence
In this country
Mineral rich land
Is given away
To a foreign power
For a few pennies
This power from across the seas
Needs land to feed
Its own people
It needs food security
But here the people
Who have roots in this earth
Are told to leave the land
So that plantations of sugar cane
Can be grown
Or other crops
To be sent across the sea
To feed other people
And if the people protest
They will be brutalised
Or worse
Rape is a weapon
In this war
And a silence rules
The country
Rock stars
Wearing sun glasses
See nothing
Or if they do
They say nothing
But tell the same story
Over and over again
Of how they saved
The people from drought
And meanwhile
The people are down trodden
In this jewel of Africa.
I cannot name names
That would be dangerous
For the people
That is the way with tyrants
The world over
People cross arms
In a sign of defiance
People are suffering.
