Twenty boys at the gate, ready to steal,
Pour fuel on the tire and light the flame—
We’ll guard our homes; we don’t care who we kill.
Red eyes and bleached lips march on us with zeal,
Machete the legs and leave them all lame,
Twenty boys at the gate, ready to steal.
Unchain the dogs, let them chase down a meal,
These schoolboys think everything is a game,
We’ll guard our homes; we don’t care who we kill.
Big-bellied police ignored our appeals,
To serve and protect? They ran with no shame,
Twenty boys at the gate, ready to steal.
The rich, they sleep safe, behind tanks of steel,
We fend for ourselves, yet still get the blame,
We’ll guard our homes; we don’t care who we kill.
No peace, no sleep, ‘til we have turned this wheel,
That pack of hyenas, tonight we tame.
Twenty boys at the gate, ready to steal,
We’ll guard our homes; we don’t care who we kill.
Header photograph © Shayna Bruce.