A Peace Poem from August 6, 2004

It was written in commemoration of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

six decades short
by one year
have elapsed
since a terrible surrender
was bombed out of the japanese
enola gay
obliterating
more than
two hundred
and fifty thousand
children, men and women
who had no quarrel
with their american people
fifty nine years
have gone by
since that terrible
crime against humanity
yet
the criminals
still walk free
flying over
other skies
dropping
their packets
of mass destruction
on other invaded,
subjugated and subhumanized people

six decades short
of a solitary year
enola gay
is fifty nine years old today
august 6th, 1945
was the unwanted birthday of
the japanese holocaust
hiroshima and nagasaki
is where
the tragic remembrance parties
are being held
a somber memorial with
no piñatas, no balloons, no cakes
only candles, paintings and songs
to recall that

morbid murderous mushroom
that announced
the arrival of the ultimate
suicide weapon
that could erase
every last one of us
on this blue marble
to eternal extinction
should a crazy
seven star general
in an imperialist uniform
gleefully decide
to take the bush doctrine
to its next logical step
and push
that dreaded button

thermonuclear meltdown
of the human race,
its achievements and conquests
is what we contemplate every year
as the pentagon
and their haliburton like corporate buddies
push for
the next smart bomb
the next computer guided missile
the next gizmo fitted killer helicopter

amani
means peace in kiswahili
as it does
in arabic
and a host of other tongues
yet
as we fight for peace
we marvel
at the obscenity
of the war criminals
who invade
entire countries
in order to impose
their own militarized version of peace

like the peace
currently prevailing
in kabul and kandahar
a peace that
is guaranteed by
women hating mullahs
who are clones of the taliban
but wear different head gear
like the peace
in falluja and nassiriya
the peace in
the west bank and nablus
the peace in darfur

how can we
achieve world peace
when war criminals
like kissinger
are given the nobel prize
and sent
on peacemaking missions
how can we achieve peace when
cynical thugs like ariel sharon
bomb to smithereens palestinian homes
and blame the victims for grenades
and missiles unloaded on them
how can we achieve world peace
when mass killers
like blair and bush
are seen by their supporters
for having made
the world safer for
democracy and progress
after demolishing
the seven thousand year
legacy of iraq’s contribution
to world civilization

on this friday in august
our thoughts
are with the japanese
in hiroshima and nagasaki
on this sixth day of august
our thoughts
are with the survivors
and descendants
of the japanese holocaust

what happened
to the war criminals
who dropped the atomic bomb
on gap toothed
school children and
dozing grandmothers
what happened
to the killers
of factory workers
and the murderers
of shop keepers

amani duniani
is what we say
peace in the world
is what we mean
amani duniani
is what we want
world peace
is what we are fighting for

to the japanese
we say
kenyans
stand by you
in fighting for peace
in keeping alive
the memory of
hiroshima and nagasaki
to residents of
hiroshima and nagasaki
we say
we are with you in spirit
because we know that
mombasa, kisumu,
nakuru, lunga lunga
busia, kakamega,
embu and other places
in our country kenya
could be
future hiroshimas
and potential nagasakis
and that is why
we kenyans
join the japanese
in fighting for peace in the world
amani duniani
amani duniani
tupiganie amani dunia

let us fight
for peace in the world
even if it means
picking up arms
to fight the war
that will end
all wars….

Onyango Oloo
Montreal

5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time
Friday, August 06, 2004