Indonesia
In 1965 I read an article in Newsweek
a mass killing of communists,
about a million, men, women and children.
The writer of this article concluded with:
the communists had brought this slaughter
upon themselves.
But the aftermath of this atrocity still fester,
and the truth has to be told if this country
is ever to find redemption.
Today Bali is a mecca for history ignorant
tourists, who soak up the sun on a beach
that once soaked up the blood of the innocent
Rednecks
Long time ago when a man called Goldwater was
running for president, I was walking along a road
just outside Mobile, Alabama. What I was doing
there is long forgotten but I recall having a day off
from my ship, and going from bar to bar.
I did notice that the sidewalk was weedy clearly
people did no walking. A pickup truck stopped,
three burley men wanted to give me a lift, dared
not refuse they had gun racks and armed for civil
war that steadfastly refused to appear.
They asked me about Goldwater whom I had read
about in “Newsweek” but I stated ignorance.
They drove me back to Mobile and I assured them
I loved America; gave me a six-pack, warned me
not to speak to black people and commies.
I was told they were rednecks; which I know see
as sort of countryside workers with broken cars
in the front yard. They did look like the men who
bullied and broke shop windows, own by Jewish
shopkeepers, before the last world war two.