THE WAR CRIMINAL HALL OF FAME

 

THE WAR CRIMINAL HALL OF FAME

There are framed photos,
mainly portraits inside historic sections
such as the salon that houses Hitler

and seedy-looking Stalin with Pol Pot

perched atop a pyramid - bleached skulls
culled from the killing fields.

 

There’s a modern section
with contemporary sofas

such that one rests and wonders
why so many were slaughtered
- how Hutu extremists murdered Tutsis
and ruthless Milosevic - executing thousands
in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo.

 

There’s an American wing with photos
of Truman’s bombs that cremated citizens
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki

after he fire-bombed

every major city.

 

One section features a family portrait -

the Bush family - George ‘H’ who invaded Iraq

with ‘W’ who ruined the Middle East
concocting weapons of mass destruction
with henchmen -

Dick Cheney,

Condoleezza Rice,
Colin Powell,

Donald Rumsfeld,

Alberto Gonzalez,
war criminals all - if they appear at The Hague.

 

In the charming gift shop, one may purchase
memorabilia - coffee mugs with naked children
fleeing napalm in Vietnam,

Laotian trees suffocating

after Agent Orange was sprayed,

and Hitler saluting Nazi-style

amidst an irregular

              stack

                      of Jewish limbs,
haphazard bones          intertwined

           to form -

               an intriguing puzzle.

 

There are feedback cards - a nice touch,
to solicit deep thoughts

and a suggestion box

in which to nominate others

to the War Criminal Hall Of Fame.

 

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and some who belong in this hall....as Dylan wrote, as Joan sang...aren't to be questioned because they had "God on their side"---very clever piece, makes me anxious just reading it.
j.

[Mike Keenan]

Thanks Jacob; that was the intent.

[Tate Morgan]

A sobering reminder of what lay at the heart of man. Sadly we are seeing it again in Russia. In my 62 years I knew only 5 without war. jimmy Carters reign and last year.

[Mike Keenan]

Thanks Tate; I appreciate your comments.

[Mike Keenan]

Time to re-read Heart of Darkness!