Think One
Think One and Think Two
Am I confused? Am I dreaming? Or is it déjà vu?
A time warp?--summer rerun?-- named Bush One and Bush Two?
Talking heads on the TV—Do they really have a clue?
Is this more infotainment, meant to baffle me and you?
Bad Sadam, bad bin Laden, they’ve turned their backs on you.
Give ‘em Schwartzkoff, give ‘em Powell, the old one and two!
“Will not stand”--“Cannot hide”—“Smoke ‘em out”, tried and true.
“Highway of death”—“Standing tall”—Vietnam purged from view.
I felt better, more humane, with Bill One and Bill Two.
We bombed them once; we bombed them twice, Afghanistan and Khartoum.
We sent our warships. We sent our bombers. Showed them a thing or two.
Wag the dog, smart bomb footage, surgical victories to view.
What’s wrong with these people?—these combatants--the Arab and the Jew.
We gave them Stingers, F-1s Apaches, Patriot missiles in lieu.
Mujahideen, Taliban, Iran-Contra and crew.
Drugs and guns, by the tons, thrown into this stew.
Achille Lauro, Beirut barracks, Trade Center bombing one and two.
Qaddafi, Ayatollah, bin Laden, and Abu.
Forget restraint, arrest and trial. We know what to do.
Homeless starved, sanctioned bombed, arms and oil, through and through.
Then Desert Storm, now Infinite Justice; blow back on me and you?
Infinite terror, infinite death; reap war one and war two?
Intelligence, investigation, national defense they do not do.
CIA, FBI, Joint Chiefs of Staff; get even for you.
One nation—one leader—one point of view.
Two Parties, two Houses, no dissent found in two.
“Bill of Rights”—“immigration”—“they did this to you!”
Stand up leaders--Morse, Lee, and Douglas, seem so far and so few.
One for me, two for you, human rights just won’t do.
“Give us power—give us money—then we’ll protect you.”
Could it be, there’s a pattern, revealed in this milieu?
Peace and justice, love and kindness, don’t come in one and two.
[Think One was read by Jay Taber as his contribution to the Writing Thru the Flames MFA Writing and Consciousness workshop held on Saturday October 6, 2001 at New College of California, San Francisco.]
Am I confused? Am I dreaming? Or is it déjà vu?
A time warp?--summer rerun?-- named Bush One and Bush Two?
Talking heads on the TV—Do they really have a clue?
Is this more infotainment, meant to baffle me and you?
Bad Sadam, bad bin Laden, they’ve turned their backs on you.
Give ‘em Schwartzkoff, give ‘em Powell, the old one and two!
“Will not stand”--“Cannot hide”—“Smoke ‘em out”, tried and true.
“Highway of death”—“Standing tall”—Vietnam purged from view.
I felt better, more humane, with Bill One and Bill Two.
We bombed them once; we bombed them twice, Afghanistan and Khartoum.
We sent our warships. We sent our bombers. Showed them a thing or two.
Wag the dog, smart bomb footage, surgical victories to view.
What’s wrong with these people?—these combatants--the Arab and the Jew.
We gave them Stingers, F-1s Apaches, Patriot missiles in lieu.
Mujahideen, Taliban, Iran-Contra and crew.
Drugs and guns, by the tons, thrown into this stew.
Achille Lauro, Beirut barracks, Trade Center bombing one and two.
Qaddafi, Ayatollah, bin Laden, and Abu.
Forget restraint, arrest and trial. We know what to do.
Homeless starved, sanctioned bombed, arms and oil, through and through.
Then Desert Storm, now Infinite Justice; blow back on me and you?
Infinite terror, infinite death; reap war one and war two?
Intelligence, investigation, national defense they do not do.
CIA, FBI, Joint Chiefs of Staff; get even for you.
One nation—one leader—one point of view.
Two Parties, two Houses, no dissent found in two.
“Bill of Rights”—“immigration”—“they did this to you!”
Stand up leaders--Morse, Lee, and Douglas, seem so far and so few.
One for me, two for you, human rights just won’t do.
“Give us power—give us money—then we’ll protect you.”
Could it be, there’s a pattern, revealed in this milieu?
Peace and justice, love and kindness, don’t come in one and two.
[Think One was read by Jay Taber as his contribution to the Writing Thru the Flames MFA Writing and Consciousness workshop held on Saturday October 6, 2001 at New College of California, San Francisco.]
posted by Jay Taber at 8:00 AM
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