Blood Diamonds
A stone so beautiful
The gem of gems
This carbon icon
A girls best friend
In many a place mined
All legal and right
To be marketable
To be pretty in sight
On our Jewellery do we wonder
Where ours come from
Is this splendid stone
From a war torn wrong
Most are credited
From a reliable source
But when it comes to money
Many mined by force
The Kimberley Process was put in place
To audit diamonds from its mined place
As for the many souls, who lose their lives
What a price to pay, for Blood Diamonds
Zulu
The tribe of tribes of South Africa
Lead by their king Shaka
1816 they formed their state
As they head into history
What be their fate
British Conflict, internal rife
13 kinglets loss of life
Rorke's Drift 1879
Mission manned, all was fine
British soldiers, African colonials
Squared up to the Zulu swell
Attack after attack,
Murderous aggression
Who really won
This theatre session
KwaZulu homeland, now KwaZulu-Natal
Buthelizi, Inkatha political hell
Members of the above and the ANC
Fight amongst themselves
For the country they want free
This mighty tribe, over a century ago
Powerful and strong, as their neighbours would know
But in this modern world, as history has told
Another tribe no longer the bold
Glenrowan Inn
Born of Irish blood
In Beveridge, Victoria
Descending into
Violence euphoria
At an early age
Notoriety was there
Arrested so young
He did not care
Stringybark Creek was the turning point
Three officers slain
Led the law to appoint
Felons Apprehension Act 1865
All outlaws
Need not be taken alive
Euroa and Jerilderie
Banks of these towns
Next in their rampage
To be taken down
The day was nearing
For this outlaw gang
As his brother Dan
Took another man down
1880, 27th of June
The gang assemble at the local saloon
Hostages taken at the Glenrowan Inn
Is it the end for these outlaws
The end of their sins
Within the Inn
The gang adorned
Armour plating
Like knights of old
Body plate and helmet strong
To learn their fete
As the night grows long
Dawn on Monday the 28th of June
From the inn he emerges, to meet his doom
Firing as he walks, bullets flying
Off his armour they bounce
His reputation dying
He survived to stand trial
The death sentence was passed
Hanged by the state
This outlaws last gasp
Chernobyl
Has man's intelligence gone to far
Or is carelessness on a greater scale
Where lessons not learnt
Were sure to fail
Radiation
We have been here before
Long Island, and Little Big Boys score
Devastation on life and land
In Chernobyl, our legacy stands
Fall out was large on a grand scale
More than Hiroshima, another man's fail
The aftermath for years to come
Poisoned, radiated land
No farming growing for generations soon
By that time we'll be living on the moon
Cancers rife like never before
Thyroid, mainly in kids
A needless sore
This radiation world we all live in
Will it become man's ultimate sin
Near the Tunguska River in 1908
This area of Siberia was about to shake
The cause of the blast is up for debate
But such devastation was caught in its wake
80 million tree's lay flattened and stripped
From natures soil, they were violently ripped
On the Richter scale, the shock wave was 5
Forest life, raped of lives
This blast had the power
Stronger than the Hiroshima bomb
Not from this world
Came something so strong
Look out your window
See your vista as tree's
Then picture the scene
From an air bursts breeze
Romanus - Romania
Romania to us
Iron curtain frontier
Dismantled by fuss
Like us all invaded
But by Goths and the Huns
Typical past history
Populations on the run
The Ottoman Empire, absorbed their souls
A free Romania the ultimate goal
Modern Romania has had its fears
The first world war
In neutrality gear
But by 1916, they released their fear
Allies they joined
As they sung the same song
Austria-Hungary they fought
To get rid of the wrong
In the second world war
Under Stalinist pressure
To remain neutral
Avenues of different measures
The Axis they joined
Once again with the Hun
With Italy and Japan
Their armies over run
Second world war over, but left with a horrific scar
Another country that went to far
Their part in the holokauston
A non defend-able time
The Antonescu regime
Crossed the line
Antonescu's approval for the removal of Jews
To concentration camps, quite horrific news
Eichmann and Richter, confirm the above
Jewish families on their final shove
The most recent chapter, in this ancient place
Nicolae Ceausescu, the people he would face
With the recent demise of the Berlin wall
This dictator so horrid, would also fall
A two hour trial on television
Would see him sentenced to his execution
Taken outside, him and his wife
For treason and genocide, they were shot on sight
Romania to date
A democracy
No longer Iron Curtain
A country now free
Rwanada Wrongs
In 1957, there existed a plan
To rid Rwanda of the Tutsi clan
Power they had, too much for one side
The foundation for, future Genocide
1960, the monarchy was gone
Will both sides sing the same song
Sadly not as the persecutions start
Ripping this African country apart
1973, under a new regime
Juvénal Habyarimana promised restrain
Progress and reconciliation proposed to be
For this country to unite, finally
1994, Habyarimana gunned down
His assassination, country drowns
This killing of him, the carnage starts
Population half, ripped apart
The killings horrific, no one spared
Machete slain, heads caved
Hacking, be-headings as families fall
As CNN tune in, the world appalled
The continuance, of the slaughtered tribes
Men, women and children you can't describe
Women raped, and the unborn slain
This horrific act of human pain
Most of the fallen, in their own villages dead
By another clan, they thought were friends
Indescribable to the world as our televisions show
The massacre of innocents, as we watch blow by blow
Where does it all end, can we try the same songs
How many more of these Rwanda wrongs
It appears to be a human trait
To kill each other for the sake of it
Maiden Voyage
She leaves Southampton
This Titanic ship
Her maiden voyage
New York trip
Channel crossings to Cherbourg, France
To Queenstown in Ireland
Where passengers dance
To some, a new life awaits
The future will seal their fate
Newfoundland waters
Temperature drop
Impending disaster
Without a thought
Lookouts, Fleet and Lee
Spot a large iceberg close to she
Sitting off her starboard bow
Sweat dripping from their brow
Telegraph indicator
In confusion state
This colossus of ice
Sits and waits
Inevitable meet
As natures diamond rips
Starboard side
Of this most wonderful ship
Rivets pop, buckled hull
Atlantic intrusion, in volumes now
Compartments fill, this White Star gem
Will we ever see her likes again
Distress signal sent
As the crew are readied
This ship of ships
Emotionally unsteady
Lifeboats launched
Woman and children first
On this terrible night
Many fear the worst
So many passengers
Few lifeboats
As all around
Bodies float
Stern raised, props showing
Metal talking, funnels choking
Lights flicker off and on
Blackout
White man came took everything
They sailed from ports
From Europe's past
To Ancient Civilisations
How long would they last
Genoa, Santander
To name just two
Galleons, traders
Who helped who
Distant lands
So far from their home
Indigenous tribes
Whose kings they would soon dethrone
Aztec and Inca
Civilisations iconic
Along came the white man
Chronic
Pillaged for riches
To send back home
To fat bellied monarchs
Whose throne's groaned
Indigenous culture
Stripped from their land
Preached new culture
Forced to understand
Great civilisations
Of this planets past
With wanton greed
Would never last
Civilisations modern
Whose next on the list
New Guinea tribes
White mans twist
To look back
At the carnage thrust
White mans greed
Was their only must
For all the lands
Who felt their sting
White man came, took everything
" Inspired by Midnight Oil "
