What Happened
Question frequently asked by
those who did not join the liberation struggle
Nothing. When we realized you weren't with us in exile
We invented a rainbow nation but lightning struck it
Shattered it into the trails of our political rush
Sweat and tears and blood in
Absurd abundance
And crazed we smelt the odour of betrayal.
We only know that freedom sang in us
Everything. We went into exile in search of a new life
Clinging to our hope, hungry for freedom
We'd had enough discrimination and suffering
To last a lifetime
And so we believed with all our hearts
That if we fought we would all become masters
In a classless society. Patriots were thus born
On battle fronts and in camps.
We also believed we were
Turning life into revolution
And creating the first semblance of nationhood
We never gave up the dream of returning home
Dreamed so hard that even in dungeons and prisons we
Never stopped talking to ourselves
Nothing. We geared the liberation struggle and locked all
Together into concentration camps. There was no escape
We gathered many people incapable of free survival, insulated
From the grim reality, each person in himself helpless
The comradeship was closed and we laboured
To make a getaway, into the national image, into a new
Dialogue with ourselves and our brethren at home
Many, thus, gained fame
In the way of great corruptors
Retiring to the African Union
To cultivate grand corrupt-schemes
In the name of freedom, the people and nationhood
Their continuing praises make them our liberators
Whose many words are believed
By the many who have not one.
Everything. A struggle less recognizable each year
In a pattern called war
We too were a rare
Pattern. As we wandered down
The freedom paths.
Nothing. Behind the waving flag
Is a letter we hid
It was brought to you on Independence Day
By a courier from exile
Comrade, we regret to inform you that
Your father, mother, daughter, son, relative
Died in action.
Our exile was an eager meaninglessness
We knew it had to come to an end
But it was the liberation struggle
And you weren't there
Copyright © Edward Ndopu | Year Posted 2017
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