THE GUESTS

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They came from across the sea
Bearing gifts of deception
Their tokens of hardship
Disguised as symbols of friendship
They beguiled us
Our ancestors welcomed them
Giving them a grand reception
Our fathers accepted their gifts with glee
Thinking they were free
The next day, our fathers had cause to flee
The visitors turned captors of our ancestors
The parasite supplanted the host
Our fathers became strangers in their fatherland
Our sons became slaves in a foreign land
They packed oppression and forced it down our throats
Using their eloquent weapons of suppression
Over our subjugation they gloat
Across the sea they forced our sons and daughters to float
Made to go for long
Becoming meals for their kind hosts at tea
Stripped of every shred of dignity
Made uncertain our humanity
We welcomed them with open hearts
Now they bless us with open wounds
They say we are barbarians
They claimed to be messiahs
They said they wanted to save us from us
They pierced our lips with cold hot iron
The cold embrace of metal sealed the fate of our lips
While our hands and back ached in the plantations
They had our wives and daughters like animals
Their purported civilization called to question
As they violated the order of nature
Their women forced their desires on our daughters
Their men drawn shamefully to our sons
Even our animals they violated
Yet they call us bushmen
The guests have come and gone
But their stay has stayed with us

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