Open Eyes and Silent Lips

women being clubbed
enthusiastically
by fascist askaris
campus bus with windows
blown to bits
by feisty tear gas canister lobbers
demonstrators quelled ruthlessly
by police acting at the behest
of the police victims of yesteryear

i see a lot of open eyes
and silent lips
i see a lot of open eyes
and silent lips

nairobi is awash with
generously funded human rights organizations
social justice ngos
equality seeking cbos

but they all stare at the riots
with open eyes and silent lips

it is no longer fashionable
to speak out against the police truncheons
especially if they are being wielded
to defend people closer than family to you

so they continue to stare
with open eyes and silent lips
as university students male and female
are bashed, cuffed and dragged to stinking cells

for daring to disturb the peace
with their calls for justice


open eyes and silent lips
silent lips and open eyes
are all i see, everywhere i look

yesterday they killed a university professor
and are now quick to suggest that it was
some neighbourhood thugs
but who were those thugs manhandling the students on national television

open eyes and silent lips
open eyes and silent lips
open eyes and silent lips
is all i see
everywhere i look....


onyango oloo
nairobi
thursday, september 18, 2003 7:30 pm East African Time