Can You Hear Me Cry

Can you hear me cry?

A question that nags at me

Every night and day 

As I sleep and wake, oh wait!

I don't do that anymore.

Can you hear me cry?

A question that torments my mind

Whose answer I cannot find

Because there's none to be found

Because apparently, you do,

And apparently, you don't.

Do you feel my pain 

When my sons and daughters,

My treasure and gold

Are slaughtered and maimed like in the days of old?

Do you feel my sorrow

When you turn my predicament into a trend

To like, and repost 

To share and retweet

And go on with your life 

Like nothing happened

Yes! Like nothing happened

See, you...see them floating down rivers

You see them thrown into pits

You see them lying in the streets

But it doesn't get to you, does it?

Coz let's face it, TIA

This Is Africa

It also happened in our countries at one point

Didn't it?

So we scroll past their pictures

And we feel more pity for Paris

Hell, we declare national mourning days for Charlie

Has anyone heard of a mourning day for December 12th?

My name is Burundi

And today I'm calling on you

To not care for my orphans 

But to stop them from becoming orphans

To not rebuild my shattered self

But to protect what I've accomplished myself

To not let 'Never again'

Turn into 'Again and Again'

My name is Burundi

And this is not a poem

This is a cry for help

#iStandForBurundi

On a personal note:

1. Bad things happen when good men do nothing (Martin Luther King)

2. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter (Martin Luther King)

3. The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis (Dante: The Divine Comedy)