Shall We Or..Should We Have Poem by tinashe severa

The rains have not fallen
the crops are withering
and the people are starving

shall we allow the ngo`s to
throw bags of undigestable yellow maize
and soya beans at their immensely,
ever grateful feet

or should we have
provided them with the adequate irrgation facilities
agricutural inputs and the knowledge needed
to avert such a situation

Our fifteen year old daughter
flipd aimlessly through a notebook
the life forming within her stirrs
serving as a painful reminder to her
of the bleak future that lies ahead of her
a future that holds nothing but despair

Shall we
throw her out of the house and into the streets
to rid ourselves of the shame

or should we have
educated her diligently upon such matters
and kept her far away,
safe from the lustful eyes of her many suitors

Our one and only son,
lies within the confines of a prison cell
twenty years they say,
is what the judge gave him

shall we
quickly turn our heads back
and denounce him
for can our family name be associated with criminals

Or should we have
slaved and slaved, struggling relentlessly
day and night in the fields and sent him
to the school where all the other village chidren went to

Shall we...
or should we have