By Faith Nyabuto
From the beginning, you’ve always been there—
Lurking, toiling, stealing hearts so fair.
You wander time and space unseen,
To snatch the innocent, young and green.
You leave behind a hollow life,
A world of grief, of tears and strife.
Where did you come from, silent thief?
You take our joy and plant our grief.
You claim our friends, both kind and true,
And vanish with no hint or clue.
Beautiful souls now rest in graves,
While sorrow crashes in like waves.
You come unasked, you come unkind—
A cruel mystery, undefined.
You’ve taken men and women too,
And children who had much to do.
You leave the ground so stark, so bare,
With no one left the tale to share.
And now I fear I may be next,
Before my dreams can be unvexed.
Before my stars begin to shine—
You, Death, are misery by design.