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The sky spewed thorns
The earth swallowed the roses
Oh Motherland, why do you cry so?

“Because you burnt the crosses
You kept the garland
You swallowed the fragrance
You kept the idols
You swallowed the seers
You kept the rosary
You swallowed the roses
You celebrated my essence
But you sold my sense

Because the engine of my soul went up in flames
That bus penetrated my fallopian lanes
It tore its innocence in this neighbourhood of blame
It nurtured itself in the city of harrowed sin
It flurried across borders of law in dilapidation
And swerved through the roundabouts of negligence
It fled the flighty fist of myopic justice
It found its home in a temple of shame
It became One with the messiah it entailed
‘without fear’
She was framed,
In a country devoured by its esoteric gain

Because injustice penetrates my terrain
It finds its reins in the veins of the great
The snare of the weak held in restraint
It tours with poverty
False vows and water thwarting its ride
The invisible and the hungry are its aides
Because I am alone in this race

Because her blood screams through your ears
Hand-in-hand with the finger of fear
Hand-in-hand with the arm of power
Two sides of the same coin
But one shines brighter
Perhaps the one less trodden
Perhaps the one more forgotten

Because the universe is our name
Because on every soil, tears taste the same

You look up to me and you plead with lesions
When will you look down at me and prod the seasons?
Stop that bus
Change its wheels
Change its direction at the very least

You ask me
‘Oh Motherland, why do you cry so?’
I cry because you sob
And I cry because we can’t taste their salt.”