How can we function normally
When the news from home is so bad
The burdens we carry Are hidden
By our work a day woes
And when they look at us
They cannot possibly know
That the facade we present
masks the house of concerns with in
For how can we be at ease
How can we act normally
When violence has once again erupted at home
The images filtering through are frightening and disturbing,
But somehow we are so detached
Like watching a movie
And yet the places are familiar
Streets in our hometowns,
We cannot turn away,
The fear on the faces is a feeling we have known
And the oppression
That weighs the spirit down
Waiting in the dark For the unknown,
Yes, we are safe and free
To go about our business here
But our families and friends are not
When they unleash the dogs, The artillery,
The abusive hard hand of the regime,
Where the rule of law is blurred by the brute wielding the weapon,
And all it takes is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time
And you are gone,
Wiped away for nothing.
The spark that lights the flame,
The edginess of the game,
African politics,
But the world doesn't care about another Rwanda, Uganda, Congo,
If a few people are brutally murdered
At the hands of a savage regime,
Cyndi Barker