No matter what is going on outside your window
No matter the gossip in the next town
No matter the views of this once great nation
The fight inside is getting you down

It might be the same old story
Acted out more than a dozen times
The same players with different names
The same violence the same crimes

Take a stand and stand tall
Do you up most to protect your kin
Stand strong in the face of aggression
No matter how much you are hurting

Against the family against the tribe
Dishonour for people who choose
To break the ties of criminality
Stepping away, knowing you’ll loose

The fear of the unknown
The threat of retaliation
Spat on by loved ones
Build-up of frustration

History is full of courage
Of people going against their father
The boss of what we don’t want to be
History has not made things easier

Stories of violence and tragedy
Of in-fighting and threats
Of disappearances and kidnapping
And of course untimely deaths

The police have been bought by the crime lords
The law has no foundation in this town
When things are needed to be cleaned out
The police are nowhere to be found

With the fight inside it is time to choose
To testify and flee what was all yours
Time to live in fear and anxiety
Time for the informer to wear different clothes

Time will pass and life will be cruel
Your father, your husband all searching for you
The many tentacles of the clan reach out
Trying to unravel the whereabouts of you

It is a continuous fight to keep out of the light
Never trusting who is now around you
Your accent gives the game away
As well as your nervous attitude to life

The authorities don’t take the threat so seriously
You protection was taken away
When money is the problem and the solution
You will never have anything to say

Be afraid of the plumber who can’t weld
Be afraid of your daughter’s boyfriend as well
Because when you became an informer
Your life was tragically turned to hell

Just like all the other victims of the mafia
The outcome is never a happy ending
Mysteriously disappearing from our eyes
Waiting for another informer for evidence

What became of this victim?
She was tortured to death and burned
They set her alight three days in a row
Until nothing was left to burn

Bones crushed and scattered
Our lives don’t seem to matter
When we see these people fighting from within
We honour those who fight to win

Too many people have lost to the mafia
Too much fear instead of fighting back
We need to stand shoulder to shoulder
Withstanding every cowardly attack

She only wanted to live in peace and tranquillity
Like us all she was tired of the same old tune
Seeing her family inflict misery on others
Tragically her death came too soon.

We must remember every victim of the mafia
Even those you committed suicide due to the shame
Of living with an axe or a weight over your head
Born into that family cursed and already dead

There are people fighting for justice in peaceful ways
The threats of retaliation never ever go away
This is the real fight inside for many
Beaten down for what they had to say.

Darren Hobson is a published poet who writes constantly and truthfully, mixing his palette of words with detail and enthusiasm, he writes about society, the general grind of daily live but also writes short stories about the supernatural and dark fairy tales. He has many eBooks and paperback books on offer why not delve deeper into this artists mind?

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