Mother, can I step out now?
Mother, will the landmines explode under my feet?
Tell the landmines I am harmless
Tell them not to blow me up
Tell them I still want to live and grow up like a man
Live with dignity, value and pride
Live every minute with my hands and feet
Live without scars, bruise and getting maimed
Mother, will the boys with guns come again?
I hear people say they will come back heavily
Tell them not to come again
Tell them it hurts to see my father's bruises
Tell them my sister dare not see the light anymore
I don't really know what they have done
But everyone seems to be in exile
The village is deserted. It just stands still
My good friend and his family moved away
I have no one to play with anymore
So I play hide and seek with the door
Tell the boys its clogged inside the door
Tell them I breathe in fear every time
Tell them I hope in fear every moment
Tell them nothing is like as it used to be

My sister would never play with me anymore
She sits in the corner the whole day
My parents could not talk to her
She would not talk to me
Her eyes are always wet
I know she is not shedding happy tears
Her eyes are always red and swollen
I know it is not a beautiful sign
She never joins us for meals anymore
I hardly see her eating after the boys took her away that night
My mother was worried for she bled for two days
But my father complains there is no doctor
My father told me not to disturb her
So here I am playing with the door
The only thing that I can move
It sounds like laughter when the old door creaks
So I used to play the whole day with the door
The longer I play the better it creaks
The creak reminds me of my friend's laughter
It sounds like yesterday
Like the good old days when there was no fear
Now there is big fear and bigger shame
Those seem to have embrace and dressed my sister
My mother says it's painful
My father says it's shameful
But I can only say it's different

The village is wrapped in silence
On and off I still see villagers fleeing
They don't really know where they will go
That's what they said when my father asked them
My father also wanted to leave our village
But he is afraid he may not know where he will take us too
So we remain with our baggage full of fears
And my sister always cries as if her bladder sits before her eyes
She must have cried a bucketful of tears
My mother told me it would never heal her though

I dearly missed my friends
They left behind their pigs and chickens
I wish I could talk to them
They seem to know me
They look hungry though
If the boys were here they would have celebrate the sight
They would never allow sparing them
Like they did to our pigs and chicken
They seem to celebrate life, though hungry
It's OK as long as they are alive

I don't like this familiarity that dwells with us
This familiarity breeds fear, shame, contempt and anger
My grieving sister is wishing she could die
That is what she told me, I don't know why?
She is asking my father for the family to move away
My father asked, how could we move with empty hands?
But I am sure he has strong hands, he does
I know he said he wanted to leave but cannot
He told us if we leave today, our load of shame would lord us
But my sister told him the load is not light for her in the village
My father could only say that he understands

But Mother, Will the Government come?
Will they bring peace and bread?
Will they bring law and order?
Or will they just come with their guns and leave again?
Will they come with helicopter to tell us its peaceful?
Will they come in battalions to tell us its secured?
Will they run our dusty roads and say there are no landmines?
Will they deliver long speech to say let the refugees come back?
Will they leave us behind like peacemakers?
Will they…?

Mother, go show them your fear
Mother, go tell them how my sister is grieving
Mother, go tell them why my father is feeling like the weakest
Mother, go tell them why many girls dare not step out anymore
Mother, tell my uncle to show his bruise and scars
Mother, tell them how our pigs and chicken disappeared
Mother, tell them how our neighbors lost their legs and arms
Mother, tell them how our folks were maimed and killed
Mother, tell them we wanted to speak and not just listen
Otherwise, tell them to come again just to listen
Mother, go, go, go. Rush

Tell them to bring peace, law and order, security
Tell them to bring doctors, medicines, books and electricity
Tell them to built school, bring football, and teachers
Tell them I have a very long wish list
Tell them it will never end if I have to ask for more
And tell the boys to do what they wanted others to do to them
And tell everyone about my ask and wonder
It could be them next, it's no fun.