GUERNICA 1937 - BAGHDAD 2003 Poem by Steinar Opstad

When the US Secretary of State
was about to give an account of the invasion of Iraq
they realized that Picasso's Guernica
was hanging on the wall behind the rostrum
and immediately they arranged for
the painting to be covered over

Picasso painted a horse and a bull
rearing their heads above mounds
of mutilated bodies
but he refused to talk about their symbolism
he said a horse is a horse, a bull is a bull
and I just paint things the way I see them

Guernica did not stop
the Secretary of State holding court
the covered picture became a picture
of what we should have known
and of what we should have understood

I write and so I participate
and since I participate
aren't I a true witness
or in other words:
that I love and suffer proves nothing