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May
29, 2003
CounterPunch
Wire
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Leopold
Despite Thin Intelligence Reports,
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May
31, 2003
In
Praise of Sam Hamill
by
JAMES REISS
Mid-April's
come and gone. The lilacs show it,
As do the Judas trees, but what in sam hill's
Going on with someone who's terrific,
Who lives in Washington by the Pacific?
This spring's been rough on him, too, as a poet.
As lovely as it is, it's made Sam Hamill
Get down from Pegasus to ride a camel
Through souks and streets so bombed-out and horrific
His rage is endless, and he lets us know it.
He tells us
National Poetry Month's a sham
If we can't teach our verses to make war
On jingoistic boneheads who would change
Regimes to suit their needs and rearrange
The seasons, bidding spring and summer, Scram!
It's winter in DC forevermore.
O academic poets on the shore
Of oceans near and far, home on the range,
Sam Hamill's cursing. Hear him: Sing goddamm!
James Reiss is a Professor of English & Editor
at Miami University Press. In 2001 Carnegie Mellon University
Press published his fourth book, Ten
Thousand Good Mornings, which was nominated
for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. His previous poetry books
are
The
Parable of Fire (CMU Press, 1996), Express (University of
Pittsburgh Press, 1983), and The Breathers (Ecco Press, 1974).
He
edited Self-Interviews:
James Dickey (Doubleday, 1970). He can be reached at: reissja@muohio.edu
Theater(s)
of Operation
by HAMMOND GUTHRIE
Propaganda isn't worth a tinker's
damn if you admit it's propaganda.
-Mort Subiet 2003
The truth regarding the rescue
of Pfc. Lynch
is in the pudding not the grainy night-visionette
with a folded American flag across its chest
Time after time it's broadcast
ultra-patriotic
newspeak night-time vision soap drama -
perhaps staged for 2004
and The Pentagon replied:
Some brave souls put their
lives on the line to make this happen;
loyal to a creed that they know, that they'll never leave a fallen
comrade
and never embarrass their country.
Yet it is with time and civilian
inquiry
that will determine wherein the truth actually lies -
as Pfc. Lynch recovers under blanket amnesia
Heavy explosions sounded at
11:45 p.m.!
Helicopters flew over the hospital!
Armored personnel carriers waited outside!
Commandos rudely burst inside!
Shooting open all the unnecessary doors!
Handcuffing the director of the hospital!
Handcuffing the director of
the hospital?
Claims now arise that all the soldiers fired blanks?
Iraqi lawyer Mohammed didn't do what they said he did?
*Insert military denials after
Mohammed
(now retired) moved to the United States
And The Pentagon replied:
When the time comes, Mohammed
will tell his story in great detail -
this is still an ongoing investigation
Which bears the question:
Will the investigation
discover the truth -
or the lie?
Hammond Guthrie is the author of AsEverWas:
Memoirs of a Beat Survivor. He is the editor of the great
online journal The
3rd Page. He can be reached at: writenow@spiritone.com
(C) 2003-- Hammond Guthrie
A Downsized Man Contemplates Watching What
He Says & Crucifixion
by CHARLES ORLOSKI, JR
"How unnerving to learn of job applicants being pressured
to divulge their positions on the Iraq War."
New York Times, Letters to Editor," April 6, 2003
Katherine,
the apenecked job interviewer closed the door,
got smack down to her chore
and inquired sweetly of my view on pre-emptive war.
I formulated myself uncomfortably
in a seat
recalling how handily Sad-Dam was beat,
the prsopect of Mad Cow meat,
drone of Fleischer bleat,
dirty bomb heat,
National Guard on domestic beat
and campus conservatives with rings on their feet.
Having disregarded "Childrens
Book of Virtues,"
and because I do not hope to collect
unemployment anymore,
I said to Katherine:
The Tigris sweats oil and tar
and Dubya's learned how to get far
by staying out of the bar
and keeping casualties under par.
Hail God man at Yale!
Hail God man at Yale!
Katherine yawned,
and overturned an executive coffee-cup.
Severely burned, she rose with passion
and responded:
"Downsized man,
you shall be considered clean as
Mujahadeen and John Dean
and among the employed you shall be seen."
And because I do not need to
collect
unemployment anymore,
I do not need to collect,
I bravely responded:
"Christ you know it ain't
easy!
You know how hard it can be.
The way things are going,
they're going to crucify me."
Charles Orlowski, Jr. lives in Taylor, PA. He can be reached
at: CCORLOW@aol.com
The Ripper
by STEW ALBERT
Brits always manage
to kill and conquer
and seem civilized
fine mannered
with the best of intentions.
Look at Tony Blair.
The whole world knows
America screwed up Iraq
murdered thousands of civilians
and delivered
mislabeled Bedlam
called democracy
Look at Dubya.
The Brits
they say
are cozy in Basra
where they get on well with the locals
because
they minimized murder
and provided medicine.
Good PR for good manners.
Curious mate
how nobody explains why Basra
is Cholera Central
and why a returned soldier
in Central England
left off some photos for development
that portray
a bound and gagged Iraqi guy
inside a net
suspended from a forklift
and polite solders
standing by
performing sexual acts
of considerable depravity.
The Brits conquered the world
and innocents abroad thought them genteel.
Take a second look
his time has come.
It's Jack The Ripper.
Stew Albert manages the Yippie
Reading Room. He can be reached at: stewa@aol.com
Today's
Features
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Jason
Leopold
Despite Thin Intelligence Reports,
US Plans Overthrow of Iran Regime
Ron
Jacobs
Popular Uprising, Inc.
Michelle
Ciaccorra
Bush's Nuclear Policy: Do As I Say, Not As I Do
Yves Engler
The Economics of Health Care in
America: Pay More to Die Sooner
Kimberly
Blaker
Vouchers for Jesus
Harry
Browne
Stakeknife: Britain's Army Spy at
the Top of the IRA
Stew
Albert
Cops of the World
Steve Perry
Greens 04: In or Out?
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