Youths, To Vice and To Crime Unknown

They surrendered to Virtue all they had, tears They gained from society( 'twas all they yearned for) tranquility They sang songs so serene:- "Oh, blessed is the shunner of all forms of evil!" And perched on tower-tops While the city went out and commenced Jumping walls topped by sharp-edged-jagged pieces of china and glass Door-breaking and stuttering rifles. In eloquent gestures and mazy motions, They recited poems pregnant with emotions:- "It took yesterday's madmen to Build a better today One cannot make a fundamental change Without a certain degree of madness!" While corrupt preachers, politicians, policy-makers Reiterated their usual rhetoric. The rhytms and rhymes of political ruthlessness They painted pictures so loud: Black guns circled and crossed in red. They stuck the paintings on hospital walls, Schools, churches, playgrounds and market stalls. Patients, nurses and prechers Vendors, doctors and teachers Were awe-struck as the questioned, "Who are they?" I whispered, "Youths, to Vice and to Crime Unknown." Their soles maimed sinuously the city tarmac Their voices pierced the polluted atmosphere Their banner sang volumes:- "USE COMMON SENSE NOT CRIMINAL SENSE!" While the peace saboteurs used violence as a tool To keep the elite few In top rule Shunning majority rule And treating the majority as one fool. Thus, at Africa Unity Square The march on Harare ended sincere. Huge was their number, and their agenda clear One of them whistled a tune It lasted till noon. Then I heard a whispering pulse In my ear A whispering pulse Of evil eroded clear, "Youths, to Vice and to Crime Unknown."