MY APOLOGIES

A Poem by Beata Ssali

I am dearly sorry
For the change we forced onto you
The lack of love we give to you
I know we actually love you
And we would love to bring back the old you

But no!

We’ve injected your skin
With polythene not silk
We’ve shallowed your seas
With graves of never-ending deaths
Instead of fine wine
You drink refined oil
Instead of sunshine
You bask in streetlights

I am truly sorry

For the cancer we spread
Your hair thick and green
Now barren and brown
Your skin glowing and firm
Now cracked and loose

I am sorry

For your everlasting youth
Has been wasted on us
Draining you every day
For the fashion houses, fake faces

The blood that runs so deep in us
Has known no other home
Yet for our euphoria
Our utopia
We overlook you
We even focus on the stars
But for you we are blind

And I apologize