Of oil wells nor nuclear programmes,
Fundamentalists
Nor drug barons
We boast not.

Our terrorism is
Homegrown
For domestic
Consumption
With no export value.

Torture and mutilations
We cover with
State media,
Lest we be confused
For Sierra Leone,
Or Rwanda or Dafur

Massacres and genocide
We package
With blue ribbons
As souvenirs
For Africa summits:
No United Nations
Tribunals here.

Not genital mutilation
Nor Sharia stonings
But AIDS-propagating rape
Is the daily ritual
Of our girls . . . and
Their mothers
To the obligate attendance
Of their sons
And husbands

Blow upon blow,
To the deafening applause
Of the African Union,
We silently bare the pain
In the amphitheatre
Of quiet diplomacy

God bless Africa.
God bless Zimbabwe.