Wednesday, March 29, 2006

A slam poem on the third anniversary of the war in Iraq.

Take care, the cynics say...
We definitely don't want to share;
we certainly don't want to dare
trying peace.

For, you see, peace is a foregone conclusion.
It is unattainable, unreachable, unreliable;
a glorious, wondrous, holy and immortal utopia
that we will never reach.

Oh, sure, we'll talk about it.
We'll flow on it like a seasoned slam poet,
faking our conscience,
taking no prisoners,
making no friends,
forsaking our identity, our values, our morals, our very being.

Peace, peace, peace.
Peace be with you. And also with you?

IN FACT, we are told that this elusive idea
can only be achieved through another,
let us say "concrete" idea: war.

Like anything else,
war is in the eye of the beholder:

Front Page News:
War In Pakistan
Genocide in the Sudan
'Peace' in the Middle East (?)
BUT NO AMERICANS WERE HURT.

"For whoever is not against you is for you." -Luke 9:50
"If you're not for us, you're against us." -President George W. Bush

Where does this come from?
This need to create
fear and injustice?

Words are our vessel:

There aren't deaths;
there are operations.

People aren't slaughtered or raped;
targets are eliminated or contained.

There isn't starvation and malnutrition;
military presences are strategically placed in terror-ridden areas in order to facilitate growth and security.

THERE ISN'T WAR!
There are merely failed diplomatic relations that unfortunately have led to the limited use of force on a dangerous minority, employing the epitome of an oxymoron: smart bombs.

NOT TO WORRY!

It's an education, really.
We teach it in our schools, our homes, our libraries, hospitals, churches, recreation halls, bowling alleys, community homes, in our very lives...
We are taught to believe that we are in mortal danger -
our selves,
our time,
and our possessions
are at risk.

It is a cheap education:
For once in our country's history,
all are welcome
to this fantastically fanatic feast
of ignorance and intolerance.

Soon enough,
the true message will shout from the rooftops,
loud and clear:
Those people over there,
aren't really people at all.

One day,
when all the world's wars have been fought;
when all the people in cardboard boxes have died off while the rich get richer and the poor get hardly the scraps from the Lord's table;
when there is barely a table left in the world on which to eat;
maybe - just maybe -
we will realize that war does not bring peace:

It never has,
and it never will.

1 Comments:

At 11:11 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I like.

 

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