I Overdosed On Life Today

I overdosed on life today ...
My television screen brought me, in full color; terror, chaos,
And the madness we call the 20th Century.

I watched a documentary on Black film makers and the
Stereotypes they struggled against into the 1950's.
The performances of Cab Calloway were purposely made short in
White feature films of Harlem - to be edited out in case they offended
White movie goers in the Southern States.

In the afternoon I ground some coffee beans and wrung out of
Them every drop of flavor into a large mug.
I could not help but think of how my small black-owned company has been
Cheated - our genius wrung out of us by a larger white-owned company.

I watched a documentary on the development of the Norton gunsight.
I turned the channel and watched an American-made Israeli Cobra helicopter
Gunship strafe a truck convoy in Southern Lebanon ... I saw the rockets
Leave the gunship and the camera pan to the spot where they exploded
Just yards away from the cameraman.
The ground shook with the force.
The gunsight seemed to work just fine.

Once during the documentary on Black films, Adolf looked with dismay
And great annoyance as Jessie Owens systematically raced the pants
Off of his supermen, who were left gasping behind.
Then I saw him again speaking to a throng of cheering Germans who
Hung on his every word and applauded with hands held before them
In the then customary Third Reich way.
They had great plans for Jews - some of whose grandsons were
Bombing the hell out of those trucks on a dusty Lebanese road.
Those Jews who have got great plans for the Husbula - the "Party of God".

And somewhere not in Heaven they're drinking a toast around the bar
Singing the refrain from their favorite drinking song:
"The 'Chosen of God' bombed the hell out of the 'Children of God', who Bombed the hell out of the
'Party of God' ... And there's more fun yet to come!"

A click of the channel and I caught the tail end of a story on how
A Highway Patrol Officer had videotaped his own murder
At the hands of two men he had stopped for speeding.
As he approached their car, they got out, overpowered him,
And shot him several times.
He looked like a deer caught in the headlights of his own patrol car.

Then I saw the same look on the faces of Kurds as they were being
Murdered by Saddam Hussein's army.
Teams of investigators from Amnesty International showed mass
Graves they were unearthing of Kurds who were machine gunned to death.
I heard the story of a twelve year old boy who miraculously escaped the carnage.

Four Kurdish men were blindfolded and strapped to posts against a wall.
The Iraqi videotape showed the last desperate moments of their lives.
An order was given and each chest braced for the stinging sound that killed them.
And then I saw an Iraqi secret police man go to each of them and he stood over
Their corpses and he emptied the clip of his pistol into the men's heads.
Then he turned away from them and faced the camera and he smiled ...
His pistol still smoking from the bloody work on the once-men
Crumbled in the mud at his feet.

It occurred to me that I've seen that exact same, unmistakable smile before:
On the face of Hienrich Himmler as he watched women being gassed,
On the face of Adolf Hitler dancing his jig at the news of the invasion of France,
On the face of Saddam Hussein when he killed thousands of Kurds,
On the faces of American fighter pilots after their missions over Baghdad,
On the faces of Moslems who called for the death of Salmon Rushdie,
On the faces of White men in sheets who had just freshly lynched a nigger.

And somewhere not in Heaven they're drinking a toast around the bar
Singing the refrain from their favorite drinking song:
"And evil shall infect the righteous, who will ride the wind on iron and bomb
The hell out of the 'Innocent of God' ... and there's more fun yet to come!"

Tonight I lay awake thinking of the world.
I want to hold it in my arms and cry for it.
I want to keep it in my heart and heal it.
I want to find a way for all who have been caught in the headlights of history to be
Safe, or to somehow stop the madness that threatens to consume us all.

Tonight I lay awake reaching out to Heaven.
My mate breathes heavily on my chest.
Her tiny, delicate hands are entwined in my hair.
As I hold her, she transforms the world.
She inhales love and exhales peace.
​I struggle to breathe with her but I find it difficult to do because
I overdosed on life today ...