POEM: LONG POEM FOR PEACE (VII)

Long Poem For Peace (PT7)

I am
every day and night
I am
every river and sea
I am the wind
I will not be silenced
you will
the wailing of the misery
in the center of your brain
may still your mouth
you will see the sad eyed child
Oh dreamers of Babylon
wise men of Atlantis
builders of pyramids
and space shuttles
formers of constitutions
and writers of symphonies
can you not figure this out?
a sniper on a roof in Syria
killed my teen age girl
own this bullet
who are you??????
tell me where it said in the Bible
there will always be wars ?
God is all powerful
go figure
You want to have your enemy
Enemies make you into somebody
you would not be without them
both of you
jump up and shout
, stand up and spit and curse
spin your hatred into a mass of moving people
out down and over
the morning smells like death
it is all yours
God does not force this on you
although you would like to think that something else is at work here
it is you puny little men,
puffed up proud women
little oldsword wielding stone heaving talk show radiohosts
you
get it
get it now!!!!
its all the same
you know it
it smells like death and decay
but it starts with patriotic songs and marching bands
you must join in, the mother land calls you
I bore you? I will engulf you!
you will listen forever
if need be
awake
I am alive and powerful beyond your measure
I come to shake your world
victory
sweet victory
the Huns are stopped
we have won
the North is triumphant
we are independent the Spanish run like dogs
victory
today
you don't want the price ?
you don't want the truth of how hollow it all really is ?
it is empty
a shallow shell
if victory is when
someone makes new rules
and builds new armies
you will answer to them
they will say
"go kill, and protect us"
it is in our nations interest
or a holy war
or oil
land
or something like a line on a map
but a little boy and girl will die
their mother will weep for the rest of time
the big strong men may get all dressed up in fancy uniforms
long robes and vestments
turbans and long silky beards
and speak so elegantly
of the heroes of the past
and the sacrifices of soldiers
his honor
his Excellency
his woopasness
the President,
your Holiness
the general
they meet in war councils
in back rooms
they plan
with maps and figures
they move little toy navys around
and drop toy atomic bombs
on a little toy flat world
I have come to take them all to Hell
the Hell that they construct
one by one they will find me standing by the royal bed
dog leash and collar in hand
my twisted limbs and bleeding eyes are, beyond a nightmare
so
you will now visit your handiwork
I will own your mind
your spirit cannot hide any longer
PEACE has come to claim you as its own
I am alive in the cosmic world of energies
I will come weaving and darting
dancing into your films
singing in your music
shouting in your streets
I will reach up out of pictures in a book
turn the corner in a city and you will see me
face to face
I will name you
and claim you
I will tell your children the truth
they will be sick to know and wish to hide
but you will not stop me with your guns and lies
you can not
because I am yours
and I have the net
and music
and poets
and artists to do my bidding
I am no fantasy,
look around
listen
you can feel me coming
isn't it interesting that gold and lead are so similar ?
they are both heavy and soft
can be hammered very thin
they both endure
they also both kill
they shatter the land
empower the destroyers of peace
they enslave and seduce
I give you both for your last meal
I tried to understand
I studied and listened to the old men
as they explained to me
why I should go into the market and explode
you can take everything away from me
but you will not take my voice
I did not see that I would know the infidel, from the faithful
so I was told Allah would know
I was given to martyrdom
to do this work
it was the path from the moment of my birth
I was still pure having not even having known a woman
I had yet to shed blood
I was raised in THE way
how else could it be that I stand in front of the council
to make this video
if not the will of Allah ?
soon
every direction I turn, leads down the alleyway into the market
not towards my "self
the old men approve
they know
the children whisper
the woman press against me in the throng before prayers
it grows quiet as I enter
the best food is put before me
it is the will of Allah
the night is long and quiet
sleep is a mean friend that only says hello and then leaves
I pray and pray
I read the Prophet's words
Who am i?
I am death!
bloody death!
People!!!
I am exploding
you are screaming
bleeding out in the street
shredded,
thrown burning,
stumbling blind,
blinking out,
quiet jerking twitching,
death!
For the glory of God ?
really?
child of destruction
you came to purify the world
your vest wasn't so heavy
"I was surprised " you tell me now
"it was warm to the touch
taken from its hiding place
on the roof under the tiles
it had a funny smell like
something new it was wrapped
around me and I felt it hold me
in its grip its complete power and
authority to kill was mine The little wire
dangling was all it needed to call in the
will of Allah from the cell phone
the tile floor was clean and smooth
from ages of bare feet
orange and yellow, with blurred boarders
the water was cool and smelled sweet so
I washed my feet slowly I tell you my ears
were ringing and I felt light and
the tea they gave me was working
I was very glad and knew
this was the hour so down a back road
went after I put on the Burke
It seemed the will of Allah
so I let this idea take me to the market
and I walked into the crowd and
an old woman looked right at me and cursed!
she told me I was a fool and that you stumbled and swayed
like a hash eater and to be gone.............
so....
I pressed the button and nothing happened
it was the will of Allah
the solders come down the ally way
the crowd opened before them
they looked like big insects
with big black eyes and ant antenna,
all hard edged and mean
when they drew near
I was lifted into the air just a little above them
I saw the helmets fly off, their i big black eyes shatter
I was a ringing bell !
then all was still but for the ringing and darkness
it was done
the old woman had a bolt buried deep in her skull
another victory for Allah ?
then you snapped my mind closed "
I will pry it open with my bloody hands
hide
I will be behind you,
laughing that way you know
deny the truth and wake up with an old woman calling you
come
look into the hole in her head
as she twists in the wind from the explosion
she was your old grandmother gone to market
to get some figs I know
you must sit beside her corpse and count the maggots
until I set you free
that will be when the last story is told
listen to this in every language
watch it find its way out of the ancient darkness into the light of the moment
you encounter the dark power of blind obedience to hateyou have no excuse now
, no place to hide
no old man to listen to
no God, of forgiveness to lie for you
you are the death in the valley now
you are the fear
and the rape
some part of you will deny anything to do with Africa
or Sudan
or Mexico
do you understand who I am?
I am all of you who let them do the killing
all you mothers, brothers, sisters and wives
girl friends and fathers, uncles aunts
and teachers
preachers rabbi and mullahs
who see them off and cry
send them toothpaste and socks
its their duty
Who am I with my sad bleeding eyes to tell you
its yours ?
the evening news may help you
run from the truth,
they do this for you.

By David Wetzel