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RWANDA

Stuart Butler

Saturday, January 17th, 2004

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 By Janus,
There’s a world of difference between turning the other cheek
And choosing to look the other way,
Don’t you agree?
For the one means engagement, sympathy, empathy and compassion,
The other means a wilful disregard and a seeming condescension,
And you know how it is with most things out of Africa,
Most of the time you can’t find the time to know what’s going on,
Let alone understand it,
‘Cuz there’s too much to read and too much to watch and too much to eat And too much and too much to buy, and too much to save
And too much to think about
And oh so many choices in this Brave Free World,
And you get stressed don’t you when there’s too much to do
And too much on your mind and not enough time,
And everybody wants perfection these days,
I’ve got targets to meet,
And it’s got to be done by yesterday,
And so we all know that Rwanda was a tragedy,
We’re not stupid,
But hey, that’s Africa for you innit?
And even if it’s the fault of artificial colonial boundaries,
That’s probably Belgium’s historic responsibility,
Or Germany’s, not England’s,
And anyway it’s so far away and it’s nothing to do with me,
So we can forget that one can’t we?
And even if the killings are officially defined as Genocide,
I say again, what’s that got to do with me,
I’m watching the football on the telly,
So leave me alone, won’t you?
It’s nearly a decade ago, anyway,
And a million Tutsis all look the same to me,
And what do I care if 2 Hutu journalists
Have just been convicted for inciting racial hatred,
The first time that such a conviction has occurred,
Since the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal,
It’s got nothing to do with me has it?
And anyway it’s half time,
And now I’m going to wash my hair
Because I’m worth it,
Then I’m going to relax and watch the second half,
I’ve had a hard week,
An Englishman’s home is his castle,
So I’m pulling up the drawbridge,
And then I’m going to invest some money
In some diamonds,
From the Congo, don’t you know?
And I’ll flog ‘em a few guns as well,
Great bargain,
Loadsamoney.
What me? Two faced?
By Janus,
I don’t think so,
It’s just that I’ve got an eye for the main chance,
Numero uno is more important than a million Tutsis.
Know what I mean?

© Stuart Butler

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/rwanda/