Poem: War Before my children

Dedicated to Darfur

By Toya Y. Williams

My children know the way of the gun
Not that old rusty hand me down “six shooter”
Missiles are like blowing out birthday candles

The last wind of war blowing out the new year of a man or
A woman

Yes my children know of war
Harsh war…long and evil
And I must send them to march for the rights of my God, my nation, my unborn
children

Whether I be father or mother
I know one day the stiff wind of war will engulf my children

My belly as a mother aches
His spine trembles as a father

We must watch as they march
Assembling into adulthood

I must hand my son a knife to cut down our enemies
And they will hand their children detonators

I ache, I ache
In this war bound smoke these letters are clear
WAR BEFORE MY CHILDREN
Toya Y. Williams is a final year student at Virginia Wesleyan College, Virginia Beach, USA. She was awarded a Presidential and White House Silver medal for Community Services in 2005 and is a 2006 Poetry Ambassador for the United States.

Please e-mail comments to comments@thenewblackmagazine.com