BY JAN HAAG
RWANDA
4-25-97
The eyes burn,
the nose itches,
the belly
craves,
and
the bones in the wrists, ankles, and legs
throb
--
but the joys of the body are not unknown
as the mind grows,
and
perhaps
even a little wisdom is honed.
I wake breathless in the
morning,
deep from the warmth of sleep,
I hear the birds chirping in
the dark,
think about God,
wonder what it is all about,
name my
ten gratitudes,
try not to be cynical
or shrewd,
try to
remember the surge of spring in the veins,
the passions, the
love.
All calm now,
tempered
with
disbelieving
almost everything taught to me
by man.
What a
brain-wash it all is,
steeped in the illusions of "our way"
which is
the way
that has led the world to such
a catastrophe as
Rwanda.
Saw a movie last night on the million dead,
created
by our greed,
our culture,
our Christianity.
The
solution?
Forget the UN, propagated by our
commerce.
Take all the
Western Colonialists
(who thrive more today then ever)
add them to
all the Western-educated
Rwandans,
and put them out of their
misery.
Perhaps then the 10,000 years of peace
will descent on
Africa again.
When our civilization has failed completely
as a
humanitarian enterprise,
why do we still think we can solve
the
problems we have
created?
We don't.
We,
the generals and the
suited elite,
enjoy the
problems
as "the great game"
like the British were playing
all
around the world
in the old days,
destroying one culture after
another.
Enter.
Divide.
Incite racial hatred --
and they'll
kill each other.
While we stand by moaning our Christian
hymns,
mouthing our hypocritical paens of peace.
Whoever made enough money at war-games
in peacetime?
Greed is the creed.
Even though the birds still sing
in the pre-dawn light.
Copyright © 2000 Jan Haag
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Jan Haag may be reached via e-mail: jhaag@u.washington.edu
BY JAN HAAG