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As I was out walking one fine summer's morning
I saw a young man shot dead in the street.
A butcher came by in a blood-spattered apron,
crying, "Come and buy my lovely fresh meat!"
A soldier ran up and he stopped by the body.
He spat in its face and his boot cracked its spine.
"You coward, you scumbag, you rat from the shadows -
you'll no longer murder no buddies of mine!"
A young woman came running and fell on the body.
She howled in anguish. Tears ran down her cheeks.
She cried, "Do you love me? Oh why don't you answer?
Do you love me, my darling? Oh why won't you speak?"
A small boy came up then and stared at the body.
"Oh, why do you lie there, your face turned away?
Won't you play with me, Daddy, 'cos I'm so lonely,
and the house is so cold, and the streets are so gray."
Then up stepped the soldier and pointed his black gun.
"Let that be a lesson," he said to the child.
"You deserve nothing better then to stay in the gutter,
so do what you're told and grow meek and mild."
The old man came forward, courageous as any.
"Don't heed was he says, boy. You listen to me.
Just look at your father and learn this one lesson:
Revenge is no sin 'til your people are free."
The widow sprang forward to cradle her baby.
"They'll poison your mind, son, so pay them no heed.
Look to the future, when you are a father,
with a life to live and a family to feed."
The boy's eyes were misty with tears for his father.
He looked down the street as he held the cold hand.
He glimpsed himself there, crouched in a doorway
with blood in his eyes and a gun in his hand.
And behind him he saw that same butcher come walking,
at home as you please, like he owned the whole street,
wiping his hands on his blood-spattered apron,
crying, "Come and buy my lovely fresh meat!"
 Awkward Sex · Sat Mar 10, 2007 @ 05:01pm · 1 Comments |
