“Thousands of mothers in Iraq want to know whether their dead sons had any human rights.”
— M.J. Akbar, Arab News, Sept. 11, 2003

$80,000,000,000: What would you do?

Who needs love when we have the media
to keep us warm? Objective reports of policy,
collateral, and defending freedoms boil my
blood, for damn sure. Today, the smooth
talker told me that our government
(My government)
will initially spend eighty billion dollars
to fight. (who knows what more to win?)
Eighty billion leaves of green on the backs
of rucksacks and gunner belts,
leaves of green on children
fighting dying bleeding crying needing
silence.
We at home, and they in field, adult or not, filers or not,
pay two hundred eighty-five dollars and fifteen cents apiece
for fighting dying bleeding crying needing
euphemistic (foreign) policy.
Maybe that's not too much. Maybe it's worth it.
Tell your children, and I'll tell mine, and we can feel better
because two eighty-five sounds lots less than
three thousand three hundred thirty three dollars and nine pennies
American
for every citizen, dead or alive, of Iraq.
Small price to pay for our freedom. Our freedom will pay for itself
when we liberate the suffering to Allah's waiting hands
and rape God's rocky soil for cheap fuel for
our neighbors' SUVs.

April, 2003

Initial spending bill for the Iraq War: $80,000,000,000
Population of the USA: 280,562,490
Population of Iraq: 24,001,816
Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, 2004 edition
NPR Morning Edition April 4, 2003


TAOPOET [home]          return to current sea         Next

© 2003 - 2004 Wendy Blake, M.A. All rights reserved.