They Never Knew Poem by Kingsley Egbukole

They left same time
She, to the market with worthless pound notes
To haggle for survival
He, to the nearby bush
To inspect his rodent trap
For survival too.

They promised the kids to come back
And give their empty stomach a fill
But they never did.

The metal birds of death came from nowhere as usual
Laid their poisonous eggs on target as always
And disappeared like before.

She was cut down haggling
A small wrap of unusual mushroom on the left hand
And five pound note on the right.

He too was mauled to death bent over a trap
A small bush rat on the left hand
And a rickety machete on the right

Both had a hopeful smile on their faces
For a little decent meal
They never knew was not meant to be.

The innocent kids, hopefully too
Waited endlessly on empty stomach
The nascent orphans never knew too
The evil deeds of war.

(Saturday 6th November,1999,2.31am)