He Died Before He Did

He died before he did, didn’t he?
The collective conscience of a split continent?
Where and how was hidden all this?
We could suddenly kill our brothers,
Arson was the order,
Rape an incident,
Violence the cult of a non-violent habitat.

Fences may have been planned
Who but ordered for the barbed wire?
When did the seed germinate?
The theatre was unfolding the bizarre.
He, the voice in wilderness.
A voice that became a noise.
A message, a sound.
He died.

Death took him before it did, didn’t it?
When dried eyes shed no more tears
When neighbours stabbed and looted.
Geography behaved like crazy
History numbed by savagery.
God, in Thy name we killed, raped and –
Blame games aplenty, historic scapegoats.
Dulled conscience, raised voices
Bloody streets, tragic homes
A nation shattered, a cause defeated.
He died before he died, didn’t he?
Death took him, before it did, didn’t it?

A nation that did not allow him to die alive
Death stole him before he was shot
A people remember him after he was forgotten
On street corners embalmed, at home forgotten
In public praised, in private scorned.
Evil killed him.
Good he died.
Perspective in the bin.
History in exhaustion
Weaponry he fought with
Weapon he fell to
He died before he died, didn’t he?
Death took him, before it did, didn’t it?