First published online at OpEdNews.com here: Demos, white lies.
Demos
‘Human sacrifice,
human tears! Human sacrifice, human tears!’
- Come the chanting, suited priests,
they come every five years.
‘We want a boy,
too young to vote,
But old enough to
read,
That we may have his
head
Filled with ideas
he’s learned by rote -
He’ll die a hero,
his limbs quivering,
While his parents
watch the holy severing
For Demos demands
(no! not we!) the warm blood from a noble throat!’
In the centre of the jungle stands
the statue of Demos,
In a circle of skulls and bones
which has made it famous,
People creep from miles around to
worship at its feet,
But not till the sun has sunk do
they dare to meet.
In the light of torches the queen,
dressed in skins, ascends the throne,
Followed by another, with scowling,
painted face, who stands, and does not carry a bone.
As the roar of voices grows
gradually silent
The wailing of a man, woman and
child grows more violent.
‘Human sacrifice,
human tears! Human sacrifice, human tears!’
- Chant the smiling priests in ties,
who come every five years.
A hush reigns as the reigning queen
descends and grovels on the ground.
‘My people! From my past wickedness
you have found
The evil of which I’m capable - I
promise more!’
And a howl of rage and joy rises
from every throat before
The other one kicks the queen, spits
and, perspiring, begins with a shriek,
‘There was a prosperous city here
once, now this - speak!
Who will you have, for I was
authoress of this ruin,
And I promise better evil, truly
worth pursuing!’
The acclamation reaches up to the
stars,
And the old queen, whimpering,
slinks away on all fours,
While the new queen, baring her
teeth, raises the thigh-bone of a boy
For the priests have come forward to
wish the people joy.
They want a boy,
too young to vote,
But old enough to
read,
That they may have
his head
Filled with ideas
he’s learned by rote -
He’ll die a hero,
his limbs quivering,
While his parents
watch the holy severing
For Demos demands
(no! not they!) the warm blood from a noble throat!
white lies
“We are blessed to
be living in a democracy like Bangladesh...,” US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas
said in an interview....
- The Bangladesh Observer, June 25, 2005
from
a black
ambassador
we
expected
truth
he
now
does
the
white
man’s
bidding
forgetting
our
ancestry
of
bondage
for
his
grandfather
individual
captivity
for
mine
collective
for
black
and
brown
people
lies
are
murderous
the
white man
has
the
truth of power
but
we have
the
power of truth
go
home
black
friend
to
your
white
masters
and
tell them
they
lie
tell
our black
brothers
the
truth
they
will nod
and
shake
their
curly
heads
for
they
know
the
white man’s
weapon
and
weakness
he
lies
