Surrounded
Surrounded 06, fractal by Mansco
Surrounded
Do you know what Condoleezza means in Arapaho?
Israel
is surrounded by enemies who want it disappeared.
Lebanon
is surrounded by exploding fire balls, rubble
full of sirens, terror, death, and humanitarian catastrophe.
Rome
is surrounded by Empire and opera, past and present
and Catholicism, past and present, and the Coliseum
in a sport/time warp.
America
is surrounded by media spin, the prom queen
and the coach, Condoleezza Rice beaming as camera
flashes caress her, Hughes mouthing fractals of the generic lie,
over and over, every word the opposite of itself.
I ran into Karen Hughes one day at the grocery store
sometime during GW’s first term, after 911 and before
the invasion of Iraq.
She wandered isle to isle, no basket, looked dazed,
too much decongestant maybe.
People who recognized her wouldn’t acknowledge it.
"She’s lied so much," I thought, "she’s invisible."
Do you know what Condoleezza means in Arapaho?
Here
she is flirting with Kofi Annin, sitting at a formal
supper with the Lebanese ministers, laughing.
Laughing?
Shouldn't we be bringing food to them?
Here
is a cheery shot— Condi with Fuad Saniora
whose country is obliterated thanks to photo op
diplomacy.
The world
is surrounded by a young Empire bent on conquering
what it doesn’t understand.
Earth people
are surrounded by global capitalism ravernous for
war profits.
So what does Condoleezza mean in Arapaho?
Syria is surrounded by revenge and fury and refugees.
Iran is surrounded by sand. Iraq is surrounded by death squads.
Look —
Condi is consoling the Lebanese people,
"These are just the birth pains" she quips,
then
she is off to do a piano recital at an Asian gala
for diplomats.
So what does Condoleezza mean in Arapaho?
It means: Crazy-woman-who-is-going-to-get-us-all-killed.
Surrounded —
every human soul of us,
and flowers, hospitals, villages, huts and mansions, even
UN Relief centers on the phone to Israeli air controllers.
Surrounded
by self-replicating obscene revenge
when the truth is what every human being needs
most is a safe and quiet place to live.
©Susan Bright, 2006
Susan Bright is the author of nineteen books of poetry. She is the editor of Plain View Press which since 1975 has published one-hundred-and-fifty books. Her work as a poet, publisher, activist and educator has taken her all over the United States and abroad. Her most recent book, The Layers of Our Seeing, is a collection of poetry, photographs and essays about peace done in collaboration with photographer Alan Pogue and Middle Eastern journalist, Muna Hamzeh.
Note: This photo is a fabrication, as perfectly true as spun news.
posted by SB @ 10:10 AM
5 Comments:
re recent post: The Other Side of the Wall --
Your piece in Earthfamilyalpha was moving and I think right on. It is dispiriting to see Israel's best turning into apologists for violence. It's also hard, in our relative safety, to understand why they have taken this turn. I have a close friend in Jerusalem who is as close to being a pacifist as anyone can be--and he's taken a serious right wing turn. Very troubling to me. Still, I think these problems have to be approached from the ground up, and that ground is still sexism, the confusion about power and gender common to all the three major religions. I think we can agree on that. We need to keep chipping away at the cultural base of the politics. The culture is glacial, slow to melt or break away. Politics is reductive, forces us to choose sides. It's really easy to do. I try not to, but fall into the trap, especially when I too really hate the Bush types. You know, I know, we're all trapped. Our enemy is ignorance, superstition, sexism, fear, and the special interests that profit from them.
We will, as you say, move onward...into the widening dark.
EG
Dear Susan,
Thank you for you concern not only with us, but with the events and people over
there.
Michael
Palestine Monitor: Press Release
Palestinian and Israeli casualties since the beginning of Operation "Summer
Rain":
Since the beginning of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, so
called Operation "Summer Rain", 150 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli
attacks. A total of 16 people were killed today throughout the Gaza Strip,
including a three year old child and a handicapped youth.
Since 28th June, the total death toll in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories currently stands at 160, of which 10 occurred in the West Bank.
32 children were killed by the Israeli Occupying Force during the month of
July in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The total number of Palestinians injured during Israeli raids currently
stands at 543.
Since 28th June, 1 Israeli soldier was killed and 12 were injured in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories.
In the last three months, the Israeli Occupying Force has killed 254
Palestinian people.
Hi Susan-
I just read "surrounded" and the comments after. Coincidentally I received this from a friend in NY. The comment on sexism motivated me to send this on to you - plus your interest in what the women are doing.
Gio
Subject: "the militarization of our men"
Mideast News Vivifies Women's 'Worst Problem'
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=2826
I read all the poems, Susan. Thank you.
mh
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