14 Riverside

A poem of mourning and defiance.

Aberdare Range, central Kenya

Terrorist, ha!

I will not speak of you by name

Bow before you

Capitulate

Retweet

Make you famous

I not let you

Break the spirit of 50 million,

Of 7 billion.

I will not let you win.

You

Could have been one of us,

Breathing

Alive

Human

Precious.

But you made yourself

A vacuum

A black hole

Swallowing life

With fire and bullets.

For all your dark

I will be light

For all your death

I will be life.

I will ensure,

Of those you tried to slay,

The trees they planted

Will one day

Grow into a forest.

I guarantee

Their children will

Grow strong, tall

Beautiful, proud

They are us, now

I promise,

For those laid down,

Today is not their end

But their new beginning.

They rest, not in peace,

But in defiance

And victory.