Slaughter at Marikana

from google

Slaughter at Marikana.

1.

Bullets tearing,

into muscled flesh,

as,

bodies slump,

dead as dust.

Sweaty and bruised,

slogging,

mining the land of the ancestors,

descending into hell,

day by wretched day,

for shiny metals,

like those shiny metal bullets,

that tore,

into muscled flesh,

as,

bodies slumped,

dead as dust.

2.

How can we mourn,

the slaughtered,

how do we cleanse,

our blood-soaked hands,

without,

betraying our complicity,

in the slaughter at Marikana,

as we lightly tread,

on the mine-fields,

of greed,

of profit,

on the backs,

of the slaughtered dead.

(dedicated to the human beings massacred at Marikana)

from google

Who killed the miners at Marikana?

from google

who killed the miners at Marikana?

definitely not the executive

nor the executives
far removed from the grime
and the slime

Who killed the miners at Marikana?

not the Prez
and not even the press for a change

strange

so who killed the miners at Marikana?

the unions perhaps
or the errant miner
led astray

in that obscene demand for better pay

who killed the miners at Marikana?

not armed cops,
firing bullets of lead into the back of the head

execution-style it’s been said

who killed the miners at Marikana?

it seems no one can be found

as bodies decompose deep under gold dust ground

while families grieve

there
ain’t no one around to take the fall

so
who killed the Marikana Miners?

no one

no one at all

* inspired by the protest song “Who Killed Davey Moore”, a topical song written in 1963 by folk singer/songwriter Bob Dylan.

from google

Who Killed the Miners at Marikana?*

Who Killed the Marikana Miners?*

who killed the miners at Marikana?

definitely not the executive

nor the executives
far removed from the grime
and the slime

Who killed the miners at Marikana?

not the Prez
and not even the Press for a change

strange

so who killed the miners at Marikana?

the unions perhaps
or the errant miner
led astray

in that obscene demand for better pay

who killed the miners at Marikana?

not armed cops,
firing bullets of lead into the back of the head

execution-style it’s been said

who killed the miners at Marikana?

it seems no one can be found

as bodies decompose deep under gold dust ground

while families grieve

there
ain’t no one around to take the fall

so
who killed the Marikana Miners?

no one

no one at all

* inspired by the protest song “Who Killed Davey Moore”, a topical song written in 1963 by American folk singer/songwriter Bob Dylan.