Responsibility

Revenge and hate dost run amock
Enshrouding all with blood and fear;
So many minds astir with shock -
Perplexed by hell's appearance here.
On wings of ardor should we soar,
Not those of spite o'er things now lost;
Sweet Africa we do implore:
Ignite us not at life's great cost!
Because we can and that we will,
In peace, greatness achieve;
Let freedom carry us until
In time we all believe:
To be as one beats "us and them" -
Yet better still is "ours" - a gem.

Revenge: oh foul and spitting snake;
Erased - that should the creature be.
So dreams and visions once forsake -
Parlayed into a state of free.
Of many colours are we made,
Not one, not two, not three;
Susceptible ~ by much ~ to fade
Into Eternity.
But when we think that all is lost,
If we just stop to say:
Let bitter bygones be our cost -
Impending doom not ours this day.
To grasp the great is hard a feat
Yet to be great is to be complete!

Lines: 28
Word Count: 179