We had grown tired
of this endless war.
We thought it was time to leave
and to govern ourselves.
Fearing punishment for our betrayal,
we asked our old enemies
to defend our cities.
They kept the King’s
forces at bay,
but it had cost us
all we ever had.
After they had consumed
most of our stock,
they forced our children to serve
as their soldiers in the war,
from which we only
tried to escape.
“We saw the smoke rising “
from beyond the forest’s canopy
The sight made our
hearts fill with sorrow.
So many lives wasted,
in spite of our warnings.
Could we have done more
to keep them from leaving?”
On our search for independence
we lost all the freedom
we once had.
We are now little more than slaves
in our own country,
cheated into a life of misery.
“We saw the smoke rising “
from beyond the forest’s canopy
The sight made our
hearts fill with sorrow.
So many lives wasted,
in spite of our warnings.
Could we have done more
to keep them from leaving?”


by Zé Mingau