Ode of the Genocide Passed - poetry rationale

Ode of the Genocide Passed - poetry rationale

Ode of the Genocide Passed
I see it on the television news,
The terror they all must feel.
When all the hope and safety they lose,
And their wounds that will never heal.
It brings me back to the memories,
The stories I was once told.
About the horrible hardship,
In my now reconciled country of old.
It was the eleventh day in May,
The year nineteen ninety-four.
All the people that told me say,
I was born just months before.
My mother looked after me all alone,
When they came and they murdered her,
While she sheltered at home.
She’s just another innocent to murder.
And every one of the people opposed,
All their blood was destined to spill.
Their life all but spared,
Just for doing goodwill.
The screaming filled my ears,
The death filled the streets.
Surviving was now one of my fears,
Living under the strength that defeats.
They tell me it’s a miracle,
That I am still alive.
For it was only multiple,
Who were left to survive.
The massacres continued for hundreds of days,
They had only one rule: to see and to slaughter.
The gunfire and screaming was just a phase,
But the heartache of their death lives on forever.
I live in a good land now free from harm,
They take it for granted the safety they have.
But in those countries where there’s cause for alarm,
They must still suffer for their lives to save.
Poetry Rationale
The theme of the poem is genocide, in particular the Rwandan genocide. Genocide is a term referring to mass violence and murder committed against groups of civilians with the intention to destroy their very existence. The Rwandan genocide began in 1994 and is particularly known for being the fastest in history – lasting only 100 days. Even though it has long ended, mass murder continues to present a large, detrimental effect throughout the third-world countries still today. The poem is written from the perspective of a survivor, who has grown-up and immigrated to a westernised country where genocide is not present....

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