Vincent P. Magombe

"THE LAST PRAYER"
(By Vincent P. Magombe, London, 1993)

(This poem is about the senselessness of War. It was written, after watching unbearable television images of war in former Yugoslavia. It is dedicated to the children who died in that war].


Human Beings... Rapid! Crazed!
Left! Right! Rapid... Dazed!

We sell life... Cheaper Than Ornaments!
Cheaper Than Bullets, Bombs, Armaments!

Rockets - Nuclear!
For What? Unclear!

We Wear Modern Bullet-Proof Armour!
But Die... Even Just By The Hammer!

In Prison Camps... Whispers of Killings!
But, We Are Numb! How Dead, The Feelings!

Where Is The Voice...
For The Sane Choice?

Rejoice... Another Man Has Fallen!
Rejoice... Another Life Is Stolen!

Broken Hearts! So What... Brother!
Frozen Hopes!  Oh, What The Bother?

Gracious Me! Death!
Cracked - The Earth!

Shoot! Shoot! Is It The Wind That Sings?
Bomb! Bomb! Fall The Palaces Of The Kings!

Left! Right! Come The Dada's Men!
And One Child Dies... Like A Hen!

No word of Grace!
No Burial Place!

Statistics!... Where Is The Mayor?
And God Forgive... No Last Prayer!

Gracious Me! Death!
Cracked - The Earth!

Vincent P. Magombe
Copyright by Vincent P. Magombe