if they've taken a bus to the Hague

let's take a Caterpillar.

I mean I know it couldn't be

the really expensive kind

that they use to ride over the olive trees

and over people's homes

and over Rachel Corrie

and back again

 

But it could be the basic model

a symbol of how crushing

oppression is

a symbol of how crushing

taxes are

and what those taxes pay for

in foreign aid abroad

and I would paint it black

and tour around any country

to warn about non violent resistance

and what happens in a militarized state

that overrides the laws

 

and after they still do not

take responsibility for Rachel's death and Tom's

and countless others

I shall paint it again in pink

in that color between

blood's red stain and hope

and I shall empower the Machine

and redefine it as Art, Roadmap Art!

a Sculpture a Monument a Memorial

and I shall engrave and scratch and sign

all the names of those whose lives

have been thus crushed.

 

and when we are done

depicting depravities

there could be a museum for the bus

and for the bulldozer

and all the other scrap metal in peoples lives

ripped apart by bullets and bombs

and we can visit there

whenever we need to mourn

or be reminded

of what we have allowed to transpire.

Mary La Rosa is a librarian/artist living 20 miles from NYC. She can be reached at: mddalton@optonline.net.

Other Articles by Mary La Rosa

 

* The Aladdin Sisalem True Survivor Show
* The Crats of Hebron
* The Palestinian Political Prisoners Never Hear About (Children), Part III
* The Chomskybot Code: Conduct in the Time of Terror

* Conscience or Complicity: The Altered State Solution

* The Quality of Mercy

* The Prisoner of Zion and the Secret of Bassam Abu Sharif

* The War Against Human Rights Groups

* When Is It Ever Enough?

* Tell Them Never Be Silent