Song of the militia
A leaflet fell out of a magazine I was reading the other day. The picture on the front showed a woman standing in a sandy patch of nothing with a container of water on her head. The setting? Darfur. The stark message that accompanied the pictured said: when this woman goes to collect water she will be raped; if she doesn’t go, her children will die.
Rape is a constant threat in many women’s lives, even more so in situations of conflict. Zimbabwe is no exception. Poet John Eppel recently shared this poem with Kubatana:
SONG OF THE MILITIA
“Let sell-outs expire”
You are a traitor
burn, burn, burn
sovereignty hater
burn, burn, burn.
We strip you naked
we beat you with sticks
melt plastic on you
and feed you our pricks…
CHENESA!
You are a puppet
burn, burn, burn
a piece of dog shit
burn, burn, burn.
We use our gun butts
to make your brains spill
we use our barrels
to give you a thrill…
CHENESA!
You MDC witch
burn, burn, burn
you Tsvangirai’s bitch
burn, burn, burn.
We drag you crying
to your cooking fire
gocha your body
let sell-outs expire…
CHENESA!
Let sell-outs expire
sell-outs expire
expire…
CHENESA!