* – inspired by Pete Seeger’s ‘Where Have all the Flowers Gone”



Where have all the leaders gone,

they’ve been numbed,

each and every one …


Where have all the leaders gone,

the Mandelas, MLKs, Tambos, Sisulus are long buried,

and there ain’t no one singing their song …


Where have all the leaders gone,

they’re all inebriated now,

as they dance and drink from the golden chalice,

cos’ its the pearly gates of Capital before which they now kowtow,

their crocodile smiles betraying not a hint of malice.


Where have all the leaders gone,

truth be told, they’re all just politicians now,

preened and tucked away,

each behind a gilded electrified fence,

popping out occasionally with pomposity,

and indignant irritation,

reminding us of the perils of ‘moral degeneration’ …


Yes, that’s where all the leaders have gone,

sipping from the peoples chalice,

comfortable each,

in an obscene palace.



       


* inspired by Pete Seeger’s ‘Where Have all the Flowers Gone”