Children of the Valleys

And as the hills yonder Turned red from sunset rays As darkness engulfed the valley And the sweet sounds of birds Rent the cool evening air Our cows and sheep and goats Hurried down the footpath As though they were late To a gathering of clans Or to one of their own And we the happy herds' boys Turned our ravenous thoughts To bananas yams and milk And all available munch-able stuff To calm our restless tummies And as the evening metamorphosed into night And the stars of the sky reclaimed their might We the famished children of the valleys Approached the fireside with widening eyes As the roughshod soldiers laid claim to all And shot in the air to frighten us all. And so we watched with pangs of hunger Training our wrath and rancor and dismay To other sons and daughters of Africa Who for reasons best known to them Or known only to their heartless handlers Proclaimed themselves ‘defenders of our freedom.’ Voila! Children of the valleys of Africa And of the cities and slums of Africa You who gather in the evening breeze After torrid days in the fields and streets Only to return to a darkening sky Sans food sans wear sans light. Voila!