Confessions Poem by Gedion Onyango

I stand before thee today
ashamed and disoriented
I stand before thee today
pitiful of myself,
with my head down
and my tail between my legs
I confess my wrong deeds to this country
I confess my sins to this great nation
because in previous elections
I, the young citizen
have joined the old to vandalize
and rape this country
I have voted for my tribal leaders
and catalyzed their greed
I supported their rotten legitimacy
and murdered in their names
I have preached hate
amongst us
and trained our children
to only see the evil
in the neighbor’s boy
I have stood tall
against the interests of this nation
but I have become no better
all around I have seen the young
die in hunger and poverty
as I have unconsciously soldiered
for the destruction of my country