Salut from Beirut

Vials of stylized files

Contrived by conniving interlocutors

Bile in the mouth

Drivin through the Deep South

Prejudicated racism approved by the state

Lawful discrimination Confederate flags and hate

Police brutality and half-hearted inquiries

Into the mysteries of wartorn history

Tell this to me

Clouded by Alizé and weed

Mind’s eye blinded and blurred can’t see

Where do I get a bearing to orient, a key or a steering wheel

Uncontrollable careening dawn to dusk

Insanity or normality

Disoriented by torn nationalities

Potency of latent rumbles and vibrations

Vocational training and benign creations

Intended for construction but employed for destruction

Bombs over Baghdad and reduced rations

Dire situations and teeming crowds of AK-touters

Shouting foul exclamations and proclamations

Stemming the trend of Americanization

 

Lymph nodes of indigenous citizens swelling like smallpox

Enigmatic epitome on the tombs of the doomed

Disintegration of a nation on sectarian divisions

Religion filling up rebels’ heads till they’re killing indiscriminately

Liable to be a viable excuse for the use of lethal tools

Smokestacks and sermons blazing tires burning

World on fire but it doesn’t stop turning

Mayhem flourishing killing in the name of

The Noble Qu'uran formulatin plans to be kings of the sand

The desert expanse and the Holy Land

Foray into the future incursion into the minds

Of puppet masters who pull the strings of time

Hunting for halos and angels so lay low

Dirges and hymns blood on the brim

Of his hat he spat disgustedly and lusted after better days

When life wasn’t a haze and reliance on violence

Was treasured as an extraordinary measure

Seizures disrupting leisure time as merchants put their life on the line

Frustrating pulsations and red abrasions of angst on the brain

 

Hate them

Or love them you still need to deal

With the real actualities civilian fatalities

Political realities

The optimistic lines are sounding sour

When automatic weapons cost as much as flour

And criminal gangs tower over intimidated citizens

These outcomes were predestined

But Rumsfeld didn’t learn his lesson

From Afghanistan

Or the Afri-kan expedition into Somaliland

Plans gone hay-wire intricacies into the fire

Jarred into consciousness by bullets ball bearings and bombs

Canister devoid of chemicals inside

Claims unsubstantiated so many lies

Iraqi information minister

Sinister if you listen to his mischief

Curtain of considerable size drawn over their eyes

And paper tigers dissipate into the mistiness

 

26-28 April 2004