Straight out of a Kundera novel:
Some kind of national Alzheimer's.
It's not so much the astronomical lies,
But the subtle erosion of the facts.
Don't recall, didn't record,
What remains?
Repeat.
The past is a desert that blooms only in our mind.
Yet the arid mentality preserves everything.
And recent souvenirs gather dust.
Could we sweep the desert with those telescopes?
Altered surnames
Under the carpet
Don't remind us, you're holding us back.
Don't dig up the past, the builder said to the archaeologist.
Don't pick at those scabs, the doctor said to the patient.
Don't stir things up, said the sour cream to the spilt milk.
Talk about a social canyon, a mental rift,
When you walk along the same streets as your torturers,
And women still search for fragments of their sons -
buried hastily like pre-hispanic traditions.
Native arts and human rights hidden away in museums
along with memory itself.
Skeletons of white stardust interred below our sight.
We're busy papering over cracks, hiding from the stargaze.
They're gravedigging for truth.
The bonds that tie us to the past are tough but we can't see them,
like cords that hold your hands behind your back.
Closets full of secrets and unanswered questions.
Haunted to the bone by history.
What might turn up, what might turn out?
In the midden of Pisagua.
Can such wounds be reconciled? Demanding justice, can we forgive?
Witnesses soon will pass away,
and perception itself is as ephemeral as a passing wave.
Will the past ever rest in peace?
PART ONE: reflections on hard-won liberties.
They say they died for freedom,
and if that is really true,
then they always will be heroes,
and we should pay our dues.
Such bravery and trust they showed,
like lions to the slaughter,
and year on year they volunteer,
their grandsons and granddaughters.
Noblemen once went to war,
with workers side by side;
in olden days we hear of kings
who fought for England's pride.
Those in charge today no doubt
would like some glory too,
but do you think this government
would die for me or you?
Now it seems, for us at least,
that wars are far away;
other lands can be the stage,
where they don't have a say.
They started it, it wasn't us,
We didn't want to fight,
We're stepping in to help,
you see, we're on the side of right.
We're lucky, we're the winners,
though we lost much along the way,
at least we're free, well, more or less,
and must be grateful every day.
All those young men gave precious lives,
to fight against oppression,
but how can bombs and drone strikes
be the way to end aggression?
It's right to fight for justice,
for the whole human race,
but war is not the way to
make the world a better place.
PART TWO: what are we killing for?
I wouldn't kill for Britain,
NATO or the EU.
I wouldn't kill for glory,
or a Western point of view.
I wouldn't kill for money,
how ever much they offer.
I wouldn't kill for corporations,
to help to fill their coffers.
I wouldn't kill for history,
the past is in the past.
I wouldn't kill for vengeance,
a grudge should never last.
I wouldn't kill a criminal,
however gross his crime.
I wouldn't kill for leisure,
or just to pass the time.
I wouldn't kill for anger,
for hate or thoughtless rage,
Tantrums are for tiny kids,
I've learned to act my age.
I wouldn't kill for property,
Not mine or yours or ours.
I wouldn't kill for an easy life,
for duvets or hot showers.
I wouldn't kill for politics,
economics or for oil.
Not even for the landscape,
though I love this blessed soil.
I wouldn't kill for Jesus,
though they say he died for me.
The only true religion,
is to love humanity.
I wouldn't kill for knowledge,
to be infinitely wise.
I wouldn't kill for honour,
in anybody's eyes.
I wouldn't even kill for truth,
and never for a lie.
I wouldn't choose who gets to live,
and who deserves to die.
I've thought about just cause,
and what counts as decent grounds.
I wouldn't kill for any idea,
however smart it sounds.
I wouldn't kill for animals,
though I feel for them a lot.
They may be close to us indeed,
but humans they are not.
I would only kill to save a life
of my fellow human souls.
To protect is not to murder,
they're entirely different goals.
I'd kill to save my family,
my loved ones and my friends.
I'd kill to save my own life,
but not as means to ends.
I'd kill to save an innocent,
from this country or another.
For every life is special,
and all men are my brothers.
