Pablo Sanchez Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 A Moment of Silence, Before I Start this Poem by Emmanuel Ortiz 9.11.02 Before I start this poem, I'd like to ask you to join me in a moment of silence in honor of those who died in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last September 11th. I would also like to ask you to offer up a moment of silence for all of those who have been harassed, imprisoned, disappeared, tortured, raped, or killed in retaliation for those strikes, for the victims in both Afghanistan and the U.S. And if I could just add one more thing... A full day of silence for the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have died at the hands of U.S.-backed Israeli forces over decades of occupation. Six months of silence for the million and-a-half Iraqi people, mostly children, who have died of malnourishment or starvation as a result of an 11-year U.S. embargo against the country. Before I begin this poem: two months of silence for the Blacks under Apartheid in South Africa, where homeland security made them aliens in their own country Nine months of silence for the dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where death rained down and peeled back every layer of concrete, steel, earth and skin and the survivors went on as if alive. A year of silence for the millions of dead in Viet Nam - a people, not a war - for those who know a thing or two about the scent of burning fuel, their relatives' bones buried in it, their babies born of it. A year of silence for the dead in Cambodia and Laos, victims of a secret war ... ssssshhhhh .... Say nothing ... we don't want them to learn that they are dead. Two months of silence for the decades of dead in Colombia, whose names, like the corpses they once represented, have piled up and slipped off our tongues. Before I begin this poem, An hour of silence for El Salvador ... An afternoon of silence for Nicaragua ... Two days of silence for the Guetmaltecos ... None of whom ever knew a moment of peace in their living years. 45 seconds of silence for the 45 dead at Acteal, Chiapas 25 years of silence for the hundred million Africans who found their graves far deeper in the ocean than any building could poke into the sky. There will be no DNA testing or dental records to identify their remains. And for those who were strung and swung from the heights of sycamore trees in the south, the north, the east, and the west... 100 years of silence... For the hundreds of millions of indigenous peoples from this half of right here, Whose land and lives were stolen, In postcard-perfect plots like Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, Fallen Timbers, or the Trail of Tears. Names now reduced to innocuous magnetic poetry on the refrigerator of our consciousness ... So you want a moment of silence? And we are all left speechless Our tongues snatched from our mouths Our eyes stapled shut A moment of silence And the poets have all been laid to rest The drums disintegrating into dust Before I begin this poem, You want a moment of silence You mourn now as if the world will never be the same And the rest of us hope to hell it won't be. Not like it always has been Because this is not a 9-1-1 poem This is a 9/10 poem, It is a 9/9 poem, A 9/8 poem, A 9/7 poem This is a 1492 poem. This is a poem about what causes poems like this to be written And if this is a 9/11 poem, then This is a September 11th poem for Chile, 1971 This is a September 12th poem for Steven Biko in South Africa, 1977 This is a September 13th poem for the brothers at Attica Prison, New York, 1971. This is a September 14th poem for Somalia, 1992. This is a poem for every date that falls to the ground in ashes This is a poem for the 110 stories that were never told The 110 stories that history chose not to write in textbooks The 110 stories that CNN, BBC, The New York Times, and Newsweek ignored This is a poem for interrupting this program. And still you want a moment of silence for your dead? We could give you lifetimes of empty: The unmarked graves The lost languages The uprooted trees and histories The dead stares on the faces of nameless children Before I start this poem We could be silent forever Or just long enough to hunger, For the dust to bury us And you would still ask us For more of our silence. If you want a moment of silence Then stop the oil pumps Turn off the engines and the televisions Sink the cruise ships Crash the stock markets Unplug the marquee lights, Delete the instant messages, Derail the trains, the light rail transit If you want a moment of silence, put a brick through the window of Taco Bell, And pay the workers for wages lost Tear down the liquor stores, The townhouses, the White Houses, the jailhouses, the Penthouses and the Playboys. If you want a moment of silence, Then take it On Super Bowl Sunday, The Fourth of July During Dayton's 13 hour sale Or the next time your white guilt fills the room where my beautiful people have gathered You want a moment of silence Then take it Now, Before this poem begins. Here, in the echo of my voice, In the pause between goosesteps of the second hand In the space between bodies in embrace, Here is your silence. Take it. But take it all Don't cut in line. Let your silence begin at the beginning of crime. But we, Tonight we will keep right on singing For our dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im going home Donny Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 PABLO! WE lost your noimber ....how...w3here are you guys??lovelovre....still at Barrets...loveolvoelovelooooove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 very well put. Thanks pablo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Sanchez Posted September 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 Hello miss julia sweetpea its 5:17am and we're still awake so if you get this the number is 798-1326 and we're hoping its a phone call of "hey, we're on our way over..." perhaps? love Lara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisley Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 nice good to look at all corners of all arguments people are people regarldless what television network represents them... just like the people three houses over peace and happy autumn winter spring to everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 We WILL outlast you Alexis, Jay, Crow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Sanchez Posted September 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 well its 7:30 and we're off to the Sloth's place.... still going..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 Hey Pablo & crew... I hope the Ottawa Death Squad is ready for next weekend, it's gonna get ugly! 9:30am and STILL going... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shitidiot Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 Well, its Mr . Big Friendly and M still going over here... toss the relay back to you drunks, of course..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevO Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 You should all go to bed!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jiboom Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 Hmmm..still rollin' here...started yesterday at the Festival Express screening...... festival express>beer>bowls>whiskey>jager>gin>beer>Brek-tasy>ALL-NIGHT 9:45am JD>beer>Brek-tasy>bowls of sweet goodness>coffee>cesars>bowls>beer>bowls>bowls>bowls>two kegs of 50 all this with one real cool gal... and theres a 5 kegger goin on right now..all 20 of us.. I think I'm in love...... ....(with the keg that is....) Watch yer shins! Hey this is my 1313th post...sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 awesome, keep on keepin on, brother esau ! you guys party good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 it's 10:10 and we're still givin'er (me and alexis anyways). Gettin ready for nero next weekend. Sleep is the enemy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 Yes sleep is an enemy. I may see you next weekend Jay,have to see though. Long time, no drink together... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeker Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 Jesus!!! What kind of night did I miss? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 ahem, there's only one "death squad" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 Schwa. I tried to tell them that. 12:45 and no end in sight Who's givin'er now? Del-Head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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