Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Kit Kelen - Series with Jack Picone's photographs #22 - a crucifixion for our time



22
a crucifixion for our times


this was the way
this is the truth
there is still light in the eyes


a crucifixion for our times
no three-day rising hopes


one false step is a third world problem
we're quite adept to kill the pain


isn't that a world away?
we laugh about it now


this was the way
this is the truth
there is still light in the eyes


not so adept now to stand in their shoes
so many borders and they travel too


our sins are still dying for
one has to get out


and there are the ones
who suffer life still


this is the way
this is the truth
there is still light in the eyes


look after the living, what will you quibble?
here is the face of the suffering other


tells us nothing but who we are
long after the war, the war goes on


we're like those animals who refuse
to see any self in the mirror


not before, we're beyond that stage
turn on the telly but can't see the news


this is the way
this is the truth
there is still light in the eyes 



 


2 comments:

  1. for interest -- this was the earlier draft of this one ---

    22
    a crucifixion for our times

    what is it you personally will survive?
    there's everything till now to have lived

    this was the way
    this is the truth
    there is still light in the eyes

    a crucifixion for our times
    this is the hope of the world

    you could go under a bus tomorrow
    you know not the hour

    one false step is a third world problem
    we're quite adept to kill the pain

    mouth swollen after fillings for instance
    because you opted for the needle

    can't taste a thing, but dinner's presently along
    a couple of panadol, first world problem

    in the old days if the turps wouldn't knock you out
    the there was always the bottle itself

    isn't that worlds away?
    we laugh about it now

    this was the way
    this is the truth
    there is still light in the eyes

    not so adept now to stand in their shoes
    the mines are laid along the border

    who took home the profits from them?
    a farmer – you understand something handheld

    a farmer wants to stay, imagines the land was, is always
    someone's theatre of operations shifts

    so many borders and they travel too
    one has to get out

    this was the way
    this is the truth
    there is still light in the eyes

    the one who dies for us, for our sins
    and the one who suffers life

    will you quibble these two apart
    Jesus said to look after the living

    here is the face of the suffering other
    tells us nothing but who we are

    only Colombia and Afghanistan
    have more landmines than Burma

    Cuba makes them and Singapore makes them
    I can't work out their ideology

    only Syria and Myanmar still lay them
    the war goes on in the ground, long after the war

    we're like those animals who refuse
    to see themselves in the mirror

    we're not before, we're beyond that stage
    turn on the telly but can't see the news

    the world will survive all that you've lived
    you will take it lying down

    this was the way
    this is the truth
    there is still light in the eyes

    ReplyDelete
  2. This second one is raw. That new draft has all that implied. I love them together. Thanks for sharing that. (And WHAT A PHOTO!)

    ReplyDelete

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