For Judy and Mahnaz(badihian)/by Neeli Cherkovski

TO LEAD YOU

               For Judy and Mahnaz

 

I want to lead you

into the cave

and leave you

at life’s door

at the same moment

in this era

of lethal doses

 

in this day of

police brutality

and selfish

desire I want to

leave you

in the cold woods

and chide you

to dive into the

blue smoke

of our fathers

down in up

 

we live in

a world of

rules and

regulations

but police codes

are wrapped in

lovey rice paper

 

lethal doses

of police procedure

 

       the same

all over the planet

 

    lethal intrusion

 

        dead letters

 

     no matter the shade

of a tree or the angle

                of a hillside or the sound

                                 of a running brook

 

you treat the people

like dirt

 

lethal doses

of order  

 

choke hold

you

 

 yee you

      line the children up and

          kill them

 

I must ask Rumi to cone out

of the dark

 

I need you to

hug and kiss all sentient beings

and lead them

 

NO MORE DEAD BOYS

NO MORE DEAD CHILDREN

WOMEN GIRLS

OLD MEN

 

no more brutal

assaults

 

        you are a stone

with arms

              and a mouth

 

you take another man’s land

            and call yourself a victim

 

you rob the poor with impunity

and show no mercy

 

           kill the children

 

       it is your fine art

murder is your art

 

you kill the animals

you kill the boys and girls

 

you kill the fathers and mothers

old aunt old uncle

 

you love the flag

and abuse it

you wave the flag

and misuse it

                         you  turn words into vipers

 

you are a stone

   on the field

           where bodies are strewn

 

in cold song