Dedicated to Darfur
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By Toya Y. Williams
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My children know the way of the gun
Not that old rusty hand me down “six shooter”
Missiles are like blowing out birthday candles
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The last wind of war blowing out the new year of a man or
A woman
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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
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Whether I be father or mother
I know one day the stiff wind of war will engulf my children
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My belly as a mother aches
His spine trembles as a father
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We must watch as they march
Assembling into adulthood
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I must hand my son a knife to cut down our enemies
And they will hand their children detonators
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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.
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