Men of Night

When the Men of Night invaded, they took everything :
Bulldozed our houses,
Made a ghetto,
Shot our children in the streets.

We fought back, and they murdered our leaders:
Divide and rule, they said,
Sowing the seeds of greater violence and future torment -
Might is Right, they said,
As we got stronger in our anger.

When the Men of Night invaded, they took everything,
Swallowed the poison that they should have spat out,
Lit the fires in their hearts that should have been peace,
Gleamed in their self-righteousness with their rifles and their pistols
When they should have left self-righteousness on the dusty ground.

When the Men of Night invaded, they took everything,
Took the shadow that had been left lying behind,
Remnant of their former lives,
But found what they hated most was that shadow,
Became their own shadow:
Became what they hated most.


July 2001