Perhaps you did not hear what you said
Perhaps the barbs and thorns of your whipping words
Went unrecognised

Perhaps the sound of the thunder in your heart
Cluttered your thoughts, hell bent on self-righteous expression

Perhaps I heard

Perhaps the ears of the elephant
flapped in the wind
Perhaps the roar of the lion
Rent the night
Perhaps it was a tremor of the earth

Perhaps I heard

Yet with the quietest ears
You would hear my pain
Yet with the smallest cry
You would hear my dream

Perhaps you heard

Across Africa, beyond the cities and the farms
Across Africa beyond the restaurants and bars
Across Africa I hear the weeping of the bairns
And their mothers, fathers too
Knowing they were not born for this

This is their time
It is our time

It is the time for us to hear
It is the time for us not to fear
And wisely, together we will move forward
As we listen, as we learn, as we grow.

Perhaps you hear.

18^th September 09

David Smith