He wants a new language!
Ratta-tat-tat! Ratta-tat-tat!
The old one’s full of homonyms
That sound too much like war:
“Military-industrial”; “Humvee”;
“Bombs bursting in air”;
“Predator”; “duty … honor … country. …”
BAM! Ker-pling! Ka-boom! BAM!
Even “pride, ” even “love”–
Drafted into service.
Every word has a medal
Stapled on its buttocks.
Every word’s a hero
In an honor-guard casket
With a flag drooling over.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat. …
S p l a t!
Armor-piercing bullets say,
“Accept the world as it is! ”
The shock and awe of their logic
Like cancer in children’s dreams.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom….
BAM!
Guns talk to guns–
A crimson tete-a-tete.
Nothing succeeds like excess.
Under the din of mourning–
Litigious sirens wail.
Snap! Crackle! Pop!
There is no light except for
Laser-guided missiles… and… possibly-
Whoosh! -
Enhanced night-vision goggles.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem