by B. R. GOWANI
United States soldiers, in a jubilant mood, pose with naked Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison PHOTO/Anti War
I
Half-filled half-empty
Half-empty half-filled
The game of profit/loss
goes on and on and on
in the safe TV studios
in the secured rooms of think tanks
in the locked palaces of policy makers
Those died for others’ profit power
half-filled half-empty has no meaning
their glasses have simply vanished
into the infinite-space
of the time-less universe
They are no more
one life they had
savagely we snatched
II
We are a sick people
we are a sick nation
we are a sick empire
we are sick inside
we are sick outside
we control the world
we impose our sick values
The world is sick too
Proof ?
We worry how the killer-soldiers
transported thousands of miles
to perform executions
of helpless people
would psychologically cope!
Nothing about the victims
they were simply waiting
with a forehead sign:
Please kill us
we have waited
waited too long
twelve long years
We hate you
we cannot fight back
therefore,
we want to traumatize you
psychologically!
We also worry
about our children
being exposed to TV pictures of war!
The children being killed by us
have no room in our worries
hundred hungry humans
see food millions can eat
Run push grab
few are strong
reaches much much faster
satisfies their hunger quickly
grabs all the food and hoards it
Most are without food
some are employed to manage hoarding
many others are hired to multiply hoarding
many are thrown out as “lazy bums”
others are labeled as “less fortunate”
the less fortunate are given bars
No, not the candy bars
yes the prison bars
for their attempt to grab some food
the hoarders deserve it
they passed the meritocracy test
Is there a cure?
if there is are we curable?
III
People protest ignored
more people protest forget
millions of people protest
“focus group”
non-violence violence
an unequal equation
should the “non” be discarded?
But then it will be violence all over
life on planet will end soon
too soon
IV
Let’s go back
let’s go back in time
let’s go back in time and technology
Let’s be naked
let’s be naked and primitive
let’s be naked and primitive and wild
Let there be no light
let there be no light and enlightenment
let there be no light and enlightenment and energy
Let there be no wheel
let there be no wheel and vehicle
let there be no wheel and vehicle and train
Let there be no arrow
let there be no arrow and plane
let there be no arrow and plane and rocket
Let there be no boat
let there be no boat and ship
let there be no boat and ship and submarine
Let there be no phone
let there be no phone and computer
let there be no phone and computer and internet
Let there be
V
We’ll fight
we’ll fight and injure
we’ll fight and injure and murder
We’ll kill birds
we’ll kill birds and animals
we’ll kill birds and animals and humans
We’ll kill for food
we’ll kill for food and water
we’ll kill for food and water and survival
VI
We won’t kill for jobs
we won’t kill for jobs and life-styles
we won’t kill for jobs and life-styles and oil
VII
I am a writer
I write others read
I am appreciated so elevated
What would I do?
who would listen to me?
what about my creativity?
I myself will write
I myself will write and read
I myself will write and read and listen
VIII
Yes trees will listen to me
yes mountains will echo my articles
yes streams will sing my poems
yes birds will critique my work
yes animals will boo my trash
IX
We weren’t meant for civilization
we weren’t meant for education
we weren’t meant for knowledge
we weren’t meant for technology
Civilization is a license to enslave “uncivilized”
education is an instrument to monopolize market
knowledge is a tool to control people’s labor
technology is a weapon to terrorize earth’s-wretched
X
2500 or so years ago
somebody ordered:
“Let there be light!”
Light there was
light became laser
light became missile
light became death
XI
Today I beg:
“Let there be no light”
lack of light is darkness
darkness is life
Darkness is survival
darkness is future
darkness is longevity
Lucy’s ancestors
naked primitive wild
fought wounded killed
survived for hundreds
of thousands of years
Bad things many will be there
nothing of the sort we have now
won’t create an “enemy” thousands of miles away
won’t eye “national interests” thousands of miles away
Civilization education knowledge technology
where have all these things brought us
we aren’t sure about our own survival
forget the future of our children and our planet
XII
Who brought us here?
who is to be blamed?
who is to be punished?
Time has passed
time has passed for questions
time has passed for questions and proposals
Alternative there is none
Solution there is one
Let’s burn down all the wells
let’s blow-up all the pipelines
let’s drain up all the oil
Oil = Wars
Peace = No oil
Let’s vote
over six billion people
most of them are
Frantz Fanon’s
Wretched of the Earth
14 million children die each year
can’t afford medicine worth five dollars!
on less than dollar a day
billions of humans or sub-humans survive!
Less than 400 people control
over 50% of world’s wealth
We are sick
we are sick
we are sick
Let there be no light
let there be no light
let there be no light
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com
The above poem first appeared in Empty Mirror Book’s Third Page in 2003.