Monday, September 5, 2011

There is no Metaphor for Murder



From The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka

34. ATTACKS FROM THE AIR

This was not what the Vedantists
Had in mind when they flew
Into the skies, their Sanskrit scribes
And engineers recording to scale
Replicas Germans created before
And during The War. Before those
Wrights. This was not what the Wrights
Contemplated before Kitty Hawk.
There is no metaphor for murder.


35.

The casualties at Gettysburg are unsecret.
They were combatants. Not a civilian father
Having his first coffee break of the morning.
Somebody’s mother is somebody’s daughter
Just looking up from the morning numbers.
Smoke. Last words on a cell phone.
Today you ride a bike. You live in Toronto.
Today you ride a bike. You live in Tampa.
Today you always take the stairs.
How many bombs in Vietnam, or Japan?
One in Hiroshima. Just one in Nagasaki.
The count? You will never be popular.
Why is one more sacred that 3,000, than
40,000 Tamils disappeared in two weeks.
There is no metaphor for murder.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

from The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka




from The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka

31. Le Repentir

There, with queen palms roaring
They walled you in. Tombs and septic
Tanks look alike. Worms feast in both.
Who gyrates in graveyards? Jumbies
And poets. Both celebrate satanic verses.

©Sasenarine Persaud