500 people drowned
in Lake Victoria today

500 people perished
30 miles northwest of Mwanza

I know that lake, where on one shore
the mosquitos carry malaria
that the local people are immune to.
Only visitors fall ill
A lake where ferries are rickety,
overcrowded death vessels

500 living, breathing human beings
Men who loved women
Women who loved children
Children, bewildered by parents
who couldn’t make it better.
All in terror
Mercilessly went down
Without consent they gave up their spirits
Lives sacrificed
on the altar of mammon
by the owners of the death vessel
and a rock unnavigated

Passing ships rescued only 40
Passing ships recovered only 21

No more
were expected to be found.
No more
will be looked for,
is what they meant.
Tanzania Railways Corp.
has closed the book.
They received their fares

Whom of us will mourn?

Published in Illya’s Honey, Vol 2 No. 2