shooting sprees
and bitter tribal fightingthe disappeared held captive
in underground jails
yesterday with modest splendour
they killed another man they didn't know
and only one voice
that of the eldest there
was raised in protest
on the mudflats of an estuary
in a blinding rainstorm
a ragged man in shackles
was tried and shot in secret
by the moral guardians of a state
in failing health
and dying of complications
its land reduced to smoking ruins
firemen played their hoses on the people
the spin of the story was ringing in their ears
another shot dead
in the back of a car
the remote village
in the mountains
an old man hanging from a tree
when dusk fell
the scene took on an air of beauty
of spiritual renewal
an occasion touched with magic
tomorrow's news
the official statistics
the death toll of bigotry
