index
a failure of the imagination
US/Them
the number and the names
11/9/01
INNOCENT LIFE

one

You walk up to the security human
before you board the plane
metal detector wand waving
like a burger flipper at McDonaldís

-cause thatís just about how much they make-

and the pilot:
15 k, family of four
only surviving ëcause
theyíre eligible for food stamps

what goes up...

Thatís how many now youíve funded?
Shahs, Sadams, Bin Ladens, Pinochets, Sharons
so well, so far, so fucked up
someone should sue...

If it wasnít so god damn sad
filling the air with dust and grief,

watching people falling
shat on from a great height
over and over

echoing retribution and revenge
above the levelled ground of peace
and its market price

two

Almost the end of history
seen through starry eyes
awash in grief
stripes like flight paths,
stars, cornered off like
suburban fortresses of the rich

Blue the colourful sea of isolation and distance.
Red the blood spilt inside and beyond
stained
right up to the border.
White the archaic tone of flesh
still dominates the half masts unfurled,

rippling now in a haze of dust
fading in across the televised world
where freedom to cry or jeer
is as much a right
as changing channels.

broadcasting the pursuit of happiness
when only the pursuit itself is guaranteed

From bedside to broadside
the most powerful man on earth
elected by accident
stumbles over his words
as easily as over the rubble
his hair the colour of grey building dust

His star wars mission -now postponed-
to protect the right to poverty and ill health

three

which side are you on?
Supporting terrorists, are you?
In some rubble of a nation

Maybe you did
in Nicaragua, or El Salvador, or some Zapistas movement
and
you are not mad

you grieve, youíre sad
youíre waiting and watching a government
that sponsored terrorism itself
behind the cloak of its countryís flag
now come home to roost,
half mast.

Between people falling/flying

ìthose who forget history are destined to repeat it.î

should it stop there?
A suspect was arrested in Hamburg
in relation to the bombing,
are the going to bomb Hamburg?

buzzing,
 the doodle bug of explosive fuel
casts the shadow of the sun below it,
heading for the south tower
full of people

I see it from different angles,
What would you pay for those special effects?
Like watching the weather
full of asbestos dust
mined somewhere else
and brought into the country legally

acrid to the tongue

Humming soft, Keening...

Once upon a time in New York
I came across a car on fire surrounded by daily lives
-no comparison, just reflexes twitching-
Uptown from 14th

As easy as walking up the pub
the stock market closed for 5 days:
global capitalism, or global terrorism?

What does the ìinnocentî
in innocent lives mean?

I too peer through veils of intolerance
at fundamental levels
on both sides
while people suffer and die

Is this anything to do with faith?

In Iraq, Nigeria, Chechenya:
Where is our world?

Is it so large?
and why not so much more?

Innocent lives lost,
are lived
everywhere.