Remember when

remember when they came that day, that cold dreary day,
marching down the middle of the street with their guns and masks
unwelcome visitors so bold in their intrusion,
so convinced of the righteousness of their mission

remember when they started taking people away,
coming during the day and night with impunity
dragging people from homes and cars, chasing them down,
taking them to who knows where

remember when they first shed blood in peaceful streets,
first with truncheons, then with the cold bark of a gun
shame absent, only whetting their appetite for more,
feeding it constantly while we grew weary and hopeless

remember when our children first learned the taste of tear gas,
that harsh, acrid taste that smelled of war and pain
the carefree walks to school filled with laughter,
filled with a nervous fear, looking for men in balaclavas

remember when they first took a life, a perfectly, normal life,
gone in an instant sending us all into a rage
shouting at the men, questioning their decency and humanity,
how dare they, how dare they do this to another person

remember when they sent more men and more guns,
hoping to drown our protests in violence
going door to door, searching houses, schools and churches,
finding nothing because we’d learned how to warn each other

remember when it stopped