Of Death, Love and Starvation

I found him in a cradboard box
down in the barrio
The stinch of death
the feel of subordination
the look of a scarecrow

we fell in love
made love under the bridge
had fried rat for dinner
fell asleep in the arms of destiney
in the sewage
under the stars

we shared our daily bread
and morning dose of cocaine
who cares about the living or the dead
in this city of eternal pain

hold my hand
cut my vein
let me bleed on the sidewalk
where we slept under the rain

lose hope in this life
for we have another
we slit out wrists
doze off into reincarnation
we are creatures of the night
without a law or a name
we don't apologize
we have no shame

we are the rats we fry
the bats that on our blood feed
the rabid dogs howling our cry
we are the ghosts and the evil seed

If we were only dead
we would live endless nights
making love on rooftops and graveyards
smoking our dope
dying with every sunset
without a care or hope
or a peice of bread

The Underwear Act

Once upon a time there lived a community of fishermen in the coastal city of Mosquito. The simple people did not have much contact with the rest of the country, and went about their daily business of living without a worry about change and technology.

After the governor fleed the country to live in a remote paradise island with his swiss-bank money, a new governer was appointed, who later appointed new municipals in all the cities of the governorate, including Mosquito.

The munucipal came from the northern mountains, and was not familiar with the lifestyle of the simple fishermen, but he was pleased with their dedication and love for peace.

One day, a fisherman walked into the municipality office to report a stolen boat. As the municipal recieved him in his office, the man walked in and before talking, wanted to tighten his loosening sarung. Before the fisherman wrapped his sarung tightly, he opened it revealing his manhood to the municipal and his assistant.

The municipal was outraged; how can anyone not have any shame and not wear any underpants??

His assitant explained to him that no one in Mosquito wore undergarments due to the extremely hot and humid weather. The municipal was even more upset and disgusted by the backwardness and indecency of the fishermen. That very night, he drafted a bill making underwear a citizenship requirement.

The next morning, the bill was introduced to the local council, whose members took offense at the inexplicable act of not wearing underpants. In a week, a law was instituted which required every citizen of Mosquito and the whole governorate to wear undergarments regardless of the weather, and put in place a 50-day imprisonment as a punishment for the inobedient of this law.

This is how Mosquito came to be the largest producer of undergarments in the country, after the fishermen stopped making fishing nets and worked to supply the great demand for underwear.

For Your Own Good

I shall sit on this chair
and tell you what to do
for your own good
force a gag into your mouth
wrap you in a plastic bag

throw you in the dunjeon
feed you to the wolves
maim your children
rape you once and again
to keep you safe

I am forced to
enslave you
sell your kidney
auction your soul
hang your mother
to protect your property

for world peace
i have to skin u alive
i have to shut you up
brainwash you
drug you
invade your home
terminate your kind

For your own good
I will submiss you
send your newborn to war
torture your wife
burn your harvest
take away your rain

To better your life
I pollute your river
to encourage competition
I tax your air
step on your lung
drink your blood

To free you
i kill you
i kill you
i kill all of you

you don't have to thank me
I do this
because I care

it's for your own good
and mine

Flashbacks from Other Lives

Simultaneous Spitting

Seven-year old Linda held her mom's hand as they walked to visit some relatives. A car pulls over and the man asks the mother to get into the car..giving dirty looks and saying filthy words that Linda did not understand at that age. At the exact same moment, Linda and her mom spat on the guy and walked away. They looked at each other and smiled; they were two peas in a pod.

Midnight Surprises

Sam woke up one night to see toys and gifts on his bed. His dad had just come back from a trip. He finally had the stuffed crocodile he always wanted. He got used to the many nice gifts from dad's trips.

Sam woke up another night three years later and saw his dad lying on the floor. His father had a swollen face with casts on his arm and leg. He'd written what was not approved of by the people upstairs.

Sam knew that from then on, he should not expect stuffed animals and nice gifts, only blood and broken bones.

Never Again

Mona was walking to her friend's place two blocks away from home. A pick-up truck drove by really close to her, and she felt a hand squeez her buttocks. The car drove away. Mona stood still until she realized it was raining. She changed direction and went home drenched. She did not talk or eat for two days. She could only cry. She hated herself. She was scared.
Mona went out again only two months later. A man walked close to her and murmered dirty words. In a fast move she slashed his cheek with her swiss army knife. He bled. She smiled and went to her friend's place. She wasn't scared anymore.

Forbidden Sport

Adam and his friends wanted to play football on the street after school but had no ball to play with. The team agreed each would bring a sum of money to buy a collectively-owned football. They played everyday until sunset, and each day one of the kids would keep the ball in their house. The girls on the team refused to take a turn in keeping the ball in their houses, and Adam did not understand. Until Sarah kept the ball at her house. The next day, Sarah had a black eye. She never played football with the team anymore, and their new ball was cut in half and thrown onto the street. No one wanted to play anymore.

BFF

Ekrem did not like the boys and girls at school. they were stupid and immature. He hated his imaginary friends; they were stupid too. He decided to look for smart friends.
On his way back from school he saw a small kitten stuck on a tree. He did not wish to help it down and watched it meow away. The kitten then gathered its strength and jumped down. It broke its leg and limped. Ekrem admired the risk-taker and decided it was his new friend.
On the same week, he waited for his dad in the car. He saw a man with ragged clothes and big hair and beard. The man talked to himself while he picked up any scrap of paper he found and wrote on it with such vigor that he could only be a great philosopher. The shaggy man only spoke in English. Ekrem decided he was worthy or becoming his second friend.
A couple of years passed while Ekrem watched the kitten grow strong and recover from its limp, and as the shaggy man wrote books and books of his thoughts in English. He was happy; he had smart friends.
One day he found some children dragging something by a rope. His cat friend had been hung. On the next day and as his shaggy friend was reading a poster on the wall, a black car pulled over and two military men dragged the shaggy man into it.
Ekrem's dad found him the next day in the kitchen with his wrists slit. He had no reason to live; all the smart friends were gone.

Democracy by Force

"No university student will be allowed into the final exams if they do not vote in the parliamentary elections."
All the students rushed to the polls, voting for Mr. Theif, Mr. Moneymonger, Mr. Fundamentalist, or Mr. Murderer, going home with a purple thumb that would guarentee an entry to the final exams.
Lina walked down the hall in college, blocking out the comments from other students calling her a seperatist, a communist, a punk, and an unpatriotic whore.
She stood in line to enter the exam room. The professor pointed at her clean thumb.
"I do not vote."
"Then you can't enter the exam room, and you will fail this year."
Lina smiled, pushed the professor aside and went into the exam room.
At the end of the year, she was first on her class.