The guns have stopped
The silence echoes their deadly intent
The child with a broken body,
Won’t stop screaming
Blood scorches his back
The bloody rivers that rush down hill
To cleanse him of his father’s sins
The guns have stopped
Africa’s wailing voice
The only sound heard from space
Broken houses, shattered pelvics
The future of Africa rebuilt on Rwandan skulls
Grasses made of human hair, ochre paste made from blood
The Savannah is silent with groans of pain
The guns have stopped
The desert people use the stars to mark their paths
They hide in bunkers, where stars don’t shine
They twinkle hopefully,
In the empty deserts of Libya
The desert people are blind to their paths
The guns have stopped
The earth’s belly is full, fed on Africa’s flesh
The limbs of Nigeria
The indignity of Somalia
The mad eyes of Cote d’Ivoire
The weary feet of Uganda
The bowed backs of Kenya
The earth is full, it burps
Its spew out the oil, the colour of rage
It vomits diamonds, dead irises staring
The guns have stopped
My friend’s yearning eyes look at the sky
She dreams of her land, her home
She imagines the feel of her soil, the scent of her Africa
Closes her eyes and feel the sunlight of Zimbabwe
She licks the tears and tastes the rain from Harare
The guns have stopped
The rain is finally falling
Heavy clouds, carrying the hopes of a million flesh robots
It’s finally raining
We hold our arms wide open, faces upturned
And receive grenades of blessings
Africa is rejoicing
Africa is free
