Staying Alive

When the Security arrive,
to be away pays good returns:
the forest’s where you stay alive.

There’s only one way to survive -
you hide out while your village burns
when the Security arrive.

Whether you’re five or eighty-five,
survival’s for the one who learns
the forest’s where you stay alive.

See how the village people dive
into the undergrowth and ferns
when the Security arrive.

See how the old and sick contrive.
They know, although their stomach churns,
the forest’s where you stay alive

when the armoured columns drive
through the village. Law adjourns
when the Security arrive.
The forest’s where you stay alive.

- David Morphet 2003