Animals grazing in Ugandan stables. Photo by the author.
My sister’s limbs twist to the rhythm,
Dance to the deadly beat of the bloody drum.
No destination but devastation,
Slug after slug viciously whizzes.
To our streets they bring their epic fight,
Their thirst for power, their fear of oblivion,
Unquenchable,
Their teeth into cigars,
Their daggers into flesh,
Sinking,
Their shots no target but catharsis,
Their war no aim but fantasy,
Brains washed, people cleansed,
One silver bullet sprayed,
Pierced my impervious heart,
Guiltless,
Limbs folding neatly upon the dirt road,
I writhed from the impact.
A bloody tear scales my bony cheek,
The beating continues.
My life fading,
Hidden from God.
Free at last?