Past is another land

Do you have a special place in memory that in spite of its shortcomings, years later you still remember with fondness?

You know nothing about me and care even less
How could you understand our emptiness
You've plundered our wisdom, our knowledge, our wealth
In bleeding us dry
You long for our spirit
But that you will never possess

The past is now another land
Far beyond my reach
Invaded by insidious
Foreign bodies, foreign speech
Where timeless joys of childhood
Lie broken on the beach

The present is an empty space
Between the good and bad
A moment leading nowhere
Too pointless to be sad
But time enough to lay to waste
Every certainty I had

The future is a barren world
From which I can't return
Both heartless and material
Its wretched spoils not my concern
Shining like an evil sun
As my childhood treasures burn
Shining like an evil sun
As my childhood treasures burn

The last time I was in Zimbabwe I watched as a child walked through a farmers land setting fire to the cattle fields every 20m or so. The intention was so that the farmer would leave the land not having adequate food to feed the cattle.

The last time I went home
I went to see my farm. My friends had warned me not to - it was devasted. The old trees were burnt to the ground, the animals skinny and neglected there was nothing I could do. No one to turn to to ask for help, I had to drive away knowing the land and creatures I loved so dearly were now out of my reach.
The worst was the people who were now on the land were not even the native locals, I did not understand their language, as I drove away I was stopped by some old villagers and told please do not come back here alone again they will kill you.
I had got away just in time.