I had it all before they came
From the sky to the earth,
From cities to villages,
I had it all before they came.
Freedom was mine and,
So were the boundaries.
Love was mine and
So was the grief,
I had it all before they came.
The chirping of birds disappeared,
In the sounds of sirens and bullets.
Desolated villages and streets divulge
Of the natives’ longing for their pasts.
As if the past was not just a reminder
That had been lost forever,
In the ruins of a dismantled system.
But a litmus test,
Of a decade long battle for survival
What lies in the future ahead.
On the cusp of their rule
Everything became theirs and,
I had nothing to call my very own
Not even my existence or my demise
I had it all before they came.