Until Now...

The cows mourn with indifference

Herded whichever way they must go

To eat and drink looks like their life goal

They have no temple or divine call

Until now, their only emotion is happiness

When they're well fed

Even with pale faces, they're happy

When they're well fed

That is until now.

These days, the routes have changed

From yonder, they've crossed boundaries;

Or have they?

As the cows are herded to where the grass is green

It doesn't even matter if the green is not grass

Until now, the cows knew the grass to be green

Yet they don't know why all green is not grass

That is until now.

We still wonder where it all begun

Or how and when it will end

Distant farmlands are irrigated with innocent blood

To grow enough grass to feed the belly

Of cows or humans behind darkness, guns and machetes

With lazy hooves the cows trample innocently

Upon the carcasses of the first casualties

Of those whose lands we claim

Who now clutch the earth

With a perpetual grimace upon their faces

That is until now.  

Is now the time to speak?

Or hold the silence forever

This silence waiting to explode within us

Like a ticking time bomb

It's a time to seek the wisdom of the earth

Which we trample and soak with innocent blood

Earth, wise to know its boundaries from the waters

Yet wise enough to live with the waters to birth life.

That is until now.

© Uche (2016)