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Third World Express
Mongane Wally Serote
(First published 1992)
ah
what have we done with life
to make it so frighteningly unlivable
I
I ask
the good men and women
the fine boys and girls
those of my hour and time
can we transform the word stop!
can we make it an act
I
I ask
for I love life
I ask
let's dare to be different
in this time
here where life has become a dangerous species
made so
by plenty and wretched poverty
let the wretched of our time
the men
children
the women
who witness the sun rise and the sun set
the moon climb and the moon fall
the star twinkle and fade
every day every hour bewildered by life
let them see in our eye
our dare for the mighty
let our eye in its unshakable belief teach them to catch fish
and to refuse to be given it
let them see in our gait
which is shaped by our love for life
the defiance and hatred
of the wealthy
who abscess this earth
with ghettoes and shanty towns
with prejudice
and bombs and guns
let them read in our face
and pick from our world
hope,
let them, as the child does,
crawl
stand
hold onto human civilization:
the wealth of the human race
of the time and space lived by generations of man
let them utter their first word -
no!
let the multitudes from the shanties
of time
of history
of culture
hold onto the helm and horizon of time
and in the loudest voice
which will blow the TV, newspapers and radio
blow them to utter silence
let the multitudes of this time
say
stop!
