Cry My Beloved Country

Unexpected things can only happen in the Land of the Unexpected

33 years is how old you are my beloved country
Have nothing to show for those 33 years
Still eat fire-roasted kaukau
Still used bamboo cup to drink water
Cry my beloved country
How long will it take for a lifestyle change?
Takes ages to catch a PMV
Walked thousands of miles to town

No longer bus ride but donkey ride
Cry my beloved country
Is transport a concern for you?
Town no longer a safe place now
Filled with so called street boys and rascals
Ready to intimidate, rob, steal and kill

Nowhere to run or take cover
Nobody ever care
Cry my beloved country
Is security an issue you care?
A woman in labour at home
No nearby aid post
Transport her on stretchers

Travel thousands of miles into the nearby clinic
No medicines, no midwife
A fee is asked
She dies with the baby inside her womb while waiting
God opens the doors of heaven for them
Cry my beloved country
Do you still care for the welfare of the people?
Politicians appear regularly on the headlines in the newspapers

Misusing public funds
Travelling overseas on regular basis
Passing parliament bills to suit their own interests
Appoint their own political cronies to head government offices
Making deals under the table

Voting themselves increases in perks and privileges
Buying a jet for themselves
Cry my beloved country
Will you let them go on forever like this?
Leaders!

Whose country are you destroying?
Whose interests are you serving?
You can go to another country for medical treatment if you are sick
But your body will never leave the shores of Papua New Guinea when you die
You can change your face by plastic surgery

You can change your skin colourYou can change your appearance
You can do anything to your body to camouflage
But remember, blood is thicker than water
Deep in your heart, you will still know that you are a Papua New Guinean by blood
Cry my beloved country
Will there be still a future with you after 33 years?

By Lucas Kiap
Morata Settlement

*** The writer of the poem highlighted some of the pressing issues affecting Papua New Guinea. I wonder whether or not, leaders pay attention to all these. If they do, I think; they are not doing enough. If they don't; I keep on saying, we will be a poor country in the years ahead even though we have vast natural resources and ultimately we will become slaves on our own land watching helplessly when foreigners rip and plunder our resources leaving us with not even a penny.