I’d like to ask for a moment of your time,
To talk about an unsolved global crime.
I’m not talking about climate change or recession,
Or ongoing Middle Eastern political aggression.

This is the story of every indebted African nation,
One hundred million children without basic education.
A continent that hopes to one day be free
Of vast debts, crime and bureaucracy.

I am the child soldier of Sierra Leone,
Orphaned, abused, angry and alone.
Patrolling the streets at twelve years old,
Carrying a rifle I can barely hold.

Brothers and sisters taken at night,
Forced into slave labour or vanish outright.
We are the children of Sudan’s indignation,
Thrown into ditches, dying of starvation.

Waiting for a vaccine that will never come,
Helplessly to death I slowly succumb.
Every five seconds, an African child dies.
How can a life mean so little?

A world of hurt, a world of pain,
Where money grants power, beauty and fame.
How much is a life truly worth?
Does business really value planet Earth?

Plundered landscapes,
Ruined towns,
Broken families,
Childhood frowns.

Societies run on victimization,
Depravity rife throughout the nation.
Corrupt Politicians, lawyers and banks,
Streets governed with soldiers and tanks.

Look at the world you think you know,
Watch nature die and economy grow.
Witness the truth with your own two eyes,
As the soul of Africa withers and dies.

It's lost children,
Starving, dying, still, in this generation,
No food, no food,
No basic education.

When the last forest finally falls,
Will it be greeted with rapturous applause?
It's time to wake up to the truth,
Before there's nothing left for the youth.

Each day you creep around the house,
Searching stealthily for that invisible mouse,
Or strutting around like you own the place,
The queen of Sheba, all hail her grace.

Afternoons are spent in the window sill,
Bathing in sunshine, hourly still.
Watching the world rush slowly by,
Occasionally swatting that annoying fly.

Lying on my bed without a care,
The sheets and pillow covered in hair,
Blast you cat! I raise my tone,
She barely stirs from flattened throne.

Leave me be! I’m trying to sleep!
I’m catching mice, not counting sheep.

Under the oak tree we leisurely lie,
Starring upward at the blue of the sky.
Watching the clouds slowly drifting,
Feeling my heart rising, slowly lifting.

The softness of the blanket,
Is as soft as your skin,
Your white cotton dress,
Gives you an angelic akin.

I want to hold you against me,
I want to kiss your lips,
I want to press you against me,
Feel the curve of your hips.

Running my fingers across your cheek,
I am lost for words, unable to speak
But the feeling in my heart is that of love
This moment is my version of heaven above.

I want to be here for ever,
Just you and me,
This moment is just us
Eternally free.

I've loved, I've lost,
    I've lived and I've died.
    I've shouted and kept silent
    I've laughed and I've cried.
    I'm unlucky, I'm tall
    I'm clumsy and shy,
    I'm loved and I'm hated
    But I never know why.

    I need to be loved,
    I need to be scared,
    All I really want
    Is someone who cared.
    I'm loyal, I'm passionate,
    I'll make you feel good
    I'm honest and Truthful
    But I'm misunderstood.

    I dream to be free,
    To see beyond mortal dreams,
    To see the edge of the galaxy,
    The universe at it's seems.
    I want to fly free,
    and up into the sky,
    Look down on the world
    and look God in the eye.

    I want to be more,
    I strive and I fight
    I want to wake up
    I realize,
    In the end,
    It's all right.

Sometimes I like to sit and ponder,
From an artists point of view,
To see the world through different eyes,
Than those I normally do.

There's so much beauty to behold,
In not just the world but the human soul,
Think of what we could achieve,
United in common goal.

Yet sometimes it takes the death of great men,
For us to remember who we are.
So I dedicate this poem to those of name,
Who down upon us from afar.