SNAPSONG 278
“Victims of a Failed State” (1) THE SURPLUS GIFT 281 In our neighbour’s yard there’s a family Tattered, hungry, and always lean The mother is frail and out of job
“Victims of a Failed State” (1)
THE SURPLUS GIFT 281
In our neighbour's yard there's a family
Tattered, hungry, and always lean
The mother is frail and out of job
Father doesn't know whether to run or rob
The kids are many, they are half a dozen
Born at random, with hardly a reason
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Robed in lice, a bag of bones
They spend their days in sighs and moans
They cry every day till their eyes are small
Their parents crowd the night with endless brawl
They attend no school, they learn no trade
Condemned to the future, unready, afraid
Father roams the streets day and night
“The factories are failing”, he hears with a fright
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The Governor says the land is broke
He kills with the pen in a single stroke
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Mother knows not what to do with her fate
Her kids are many like eggs in a crate
She takes them to beg at the marketplace
And she's never far from the prayer-place
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They pray and pray till their tongues are weak
But their lives keep shriveling every passing week
“Stop this breeding!”, she's often told
“It's the gift of God”, the couple hold.
