The world is a vampire, sent to drain
Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames
And what do I get, for my pain?
Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game
(From: Bullet with Butterfly wings – Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins)
Clouding the shame when cordite will blast
horizons consumes with incestuous fists
pounding the cartilage and breaking the bones.
Where gold-digger merchants collecting the skulls
charred with the brands, claiming their wealth.
A desert storm that blending the tears
with sandy abrasions from the Ukraine
And coming to me a lead-greeting wrapped
for thrushes that crush ‘gainst window-panes
the world is a vampire, sent to drain
For purpose of power I can’t understand
and claiming religion is better than books
The darkest beholder to murder their kin
as schools are more sinful than raping a girl.
Claiming to know the better of us
with power of guns they get what they want.
Nigerian market with burden of claims
the children are belted, remote controlled bombs
as silent beholder for danger of names
secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames.
The pictures that haunts me at night
the faces of war, the victorious few
claiming the voice in my turbulent dreams
I’m betting my life on murderous drones
to kill them before they slaughter again.
To kill or be killed, a choice I can’t make.
Cause hearing the truths from the whispering rain
that evil reside also inside my heart
They’re human like me I don’t want them slain
and what do I get for my pain?
So what are they asking the zealously few
the one that can’t stand hearing a voice,
a boisterous laughter the music of strings?
A piece of the cake or that they can take
whatever they want from those who have less?
Complexity rising in mass-graves below
but who is the villain? who is to blame?
The gun-manufacturer or gasoline pumps,
for corporate greed we linger in shame
Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game
A mass grave for children in Dadaab by Oxfam east Africa
I just wanted to do a Glosa on one of my favorite songs, not very cheerful really, still probably room for improvements
—
Jan 27, 2014
Björn Rudbergs writings 
I was just talking to someone about the few things my father told when his army unit liberated Auschwitz.
Today is for sure a day to remember that day.. so frightening that denial is rising at the moment.
Our wars do seem like Science Fiction. I read years ago something about how men’s need to shed blood emulates women who menstruate, bleed for days and don’t die, and create life.
My dad platoon freed Buchenwald. He never got over what he saw there.
We cannot deny there’s evil in the world…and must look into our own hearts. If only we all could say, “To kill or be killed, a choice I can’t make”.
loved the poem and the smashing pumpkins quote
dude…you had me singing with you from the beginning….
gritty and hard poem….lots of great lines…a sad reality too.
is there any true victor in war….so much loss….but this is the world we
create in our apathy
very dark imagery very skillfully applied in a vexing tone
“Where gold-digger merchants collecting the skulls
charred with the brands, claiming their wealth.”
have a nice Tuesday
much love…
I love the cry out for liberation in this poem because it is apparent that you truly care about others. This could almost be turned into slam poetry if you wanted to.
I find this very interesting.. the glosa a form popular in Spanish courts long ago, to slam poetry.. maybe the difference is not that big, and certainly doing this with popular song-lines would be an idea.
A powerful and deeply sad and moving write Bjorn. We must ask these questions and we must face the evil that lies in this world.
So many questions as to why, with no real reasons to give. This is a sad and dark read, but that is what makes this piece relatable. War is never pretty.
Very powerful, thought provoking and gut wrenching. True justice will never fully be served. Unfortunately..
I can’t comprehend such evil – the image is haunting. There is a right and wrong – and individuals, not corporations in the end do the evil. Greed, hate, vengeance fester and people latch on any excuse to give in to such evil vices they harbor. We need to stop being politically correct – Like Obama said the other day – something like “No religion has the corner on “extremism”. What? I think we can say there is a radical group that does… and we need to start calling it what it is. Terrorism and evil individuals. Otherwise we will never win. I could go on and on… This image is so haunting as why is this not SPLASHED on every front page newspaper? Provoking poem…
Oh yes.. in the end people do the evil deeds, and they all have reasons, twisted or real.
“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” — Alexander Solzhenitsyn in the Gulag Archipelago..
To me that is the scariest part. They are not so different from us.. still they deed are for sure evil.
interesting. I couldn’t disagree with that quote more. I do not share anything of importance with those terrorists. They have forfeited their rights in my opinion. When behavior such as there’s continues to harm innocents then it is our obligation to make sure justice is served. We all have vice and virtue and most of us have limits. Perhaps that is the dividing line – for I clearly see a line that has been crossed and must be dealt with. Most will be on the recording end of the atrocities they will continue to commit until they are stopped. It is very hard for me to read poetry that if not sympathizes with them tries to paint
Ah..no I have no sympathy whatsoever.. none.
I understand it is easy when looking from afar – I have a “friend” who we found out molested his young adopted daughters – pedophilia – they were so young. I used to say “give them all the death penalty” …I have no sadness he is in jail – but – I have such mixed emotions now… Was he EVER the man we knew… what happened? The death penalty I rarely believe in – but if a person’s death means others will be saved, then I’m OK with it. As far as terrorists – they will continue to harm – so it really isn’t that hard for me to wish them destroyed. Perhaps I am over-simplifying it.
I can understand that.. and that is exactly why it is so hard… I spend a lot of time trying to think through what is evil or not… and yes there are lots of evil deeds.. I think one of the reason I am against death penalties or wishing death on others is what it does to me as a human…. I will never kill anyone else I hope, and therefore I do not want to demand anyone else to do it my place… I have also read about how evil can grow in any human given the conditions… alas.. and only in understanding that I have those bad things inside can I fully control them under all conditions… Maybe at the end it’s a kind of “good selfishness”… Thank you for this discussion… it’s good for me.
It is a frightening world we live in. So much can be twisted into hate. Strong piece about our condition, written so well.
Who is the villain and who is to blame? Will we ever know?
http://www.kimnelsonwrites.com/2015/01/27/spectrum/
I liked your 44-liner, Bjorn. I wasn’t familiar with the Glosa form but it looks really good for amplifying someone else’s passion. Or fitting your own to a smattering of the other’s words. I will try it some time, not sure when. I did save the directions for writing it, you did great.
I don’t often listen to the Smashing Pumpkins as my radio is generally set for a station that plays 60’s, 70’s, and (to my chagrin) 80’s songs.
We visited the Ukraine a year ago in August. It was very pretty then, no hint of things to come. Crimea is a mess now, we talked to several Ukrainians on our latest cruse last week. Most were sad about the takeover.
I got those titles for my spine poem from the ship’s library. I never own all of the books for the few that I write. Generally one of the titles sets me off and I go from there with a search to continue my thoughts.
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