Uncivilised cities

Uncivilised cities

What brought us here

To this moment of mutual destruction

Were not we

Once great ancient cities

Dependent on the trade

Of copper pots, exotic perfumed boxes laced

With string, secured with sealing wax

Fragrant spices, salts and peppers

The darkest indigo

Obtained to paint

The picture of a saint

Now used to scratch

Wild scenes upon the skin

Of a brutish warrior

Once upon a time we were as brothers

We walked as sisters

Arms wrapped around each others

Shoulders

Taking up the slack

Giving solace through the dark days

When crops failed

The rains came

The sun’s fire boiled the sky

Helping hands to save a soul from drowning

What happened to our friendship

The journey often made in hardship

To barter wares, share supplies

When did the lying start

Petty jealousies impart

A growing fear of individual difference

The grotesque of uniforms now define us

The olive green of battle fatigues

Street militia

Manning barricades

That now lie on either side of

Such a great divide

Full of broken promises

When did we begin

To disbelieve what our eyes had seen

When we were comrades

The open hand of friendship

Perceived as a first strike

Are we forever broken

Isolated,

Huddled in the dark waiting for a miracle

When what we need to do

Is remember who we were

How we grew, exponentially

Sharing in the bounty

Of our great land

It was the reason we prospered

Back in those early days

When we were young and blooming

Custodians of an earthly garden

Before dark hearts

Hardened against their brothers

Foolishly fighting over trinkets

As too easily we forgot

How reliant we all were

On the good grace

Of joint enterprise,

The benefits of mutuality

As well

As the wealth

Of healing properties

Extended without favour

In a hand of friendship.