Chains of Democracy

We were told it would give us freedom, but got chains
We were promised progress, but returned to the dark ages
Where we expected bread, it fed fat on our hungers
While we prayed for hope, it grew on our fears
When we cried out, their bullets overcame our ballots

We went out to vote with hope our hearts
Young and old; we held up our cards
Visions of a better future glowing in our heads
Parting ways with hosts to retrace long lost homes
Only to find freedom supported by chains

We voted because we believed the promises
As we were plied with new lies to quell old tears
We watered the bud of hope with our precious votes
And failed to fan the flames of fast fading hopes
So the justice we touch has the feel of steel chains

We watch their possessed, frenzied dance, drenched in silent tears
Powerless, as liberty is locked up in democracy’s empty cellars
And shackled when starvation becomes food for the masses
We were assured that democracy would put food on tables
But the table is beyond our thwarted, manacled hands

We were promised balms to sooth our open wounds
Yet we are but pawns to impress conned observers
We were promised homes with proper roofs
Yet our children are born under the glare of naked flares
For the democracy they gave us is wrapped in feral lies

We were promised light in our lives and clothes on our bent backs
But we have learnt to see in the dark and wrap with old rags
We yearn for the hope that once pledged so many riches
Yet, know that redemption may only come in our graves
Everyone says the votes were free, yet we feel like slaves.