[Newspoetry] 3 drafts for Timor

[William Gillespie]

which do you prefer?

1
say a prayer for east timor
if you think a prayer could help
say a prayer or think it over
try to talk to your mom or dad

tell them that humanitarian
catastrophes are wrong
say self-determination
is every nation's right

compare the numbers
to yugoslavia
take it to the hague
draw a timeline

compare the two
find out what you
missed during the carter
administration

the goons come in

and it feels like 1975

in 65 suharto
came to power there
it was called a gleam of light
in asia

the killing was on the
order of pol pot
hitler stalin
in indonesia

mostly landless peasants
killed. so what would
happen if someone
said "stop"

where do their guns come from

things are worse
in other countries
than you would have
you believe

torture is taken seriously
our capital punishment
is a cakewalk
by comparison

they are shooting at UN
peacekeepers killing
babies you would not
want to be there now

how do they expect me
to go on working?
there is no way
to make this rhyme.

2
Zap Peace Dili, Jakarta & Viqueque few, Habibie, Xanana Gusmao

3
after Chomsky
http://bsd.motherjones.com/east_timor/comment/chomsky.html

Question:
I am a "moderate" who is
"at heart benign." Who am
I?

Answer:
It's May 88
And Madeline Albright's fingernail
Wraps itself in the coils of the telephone
cord as she hisses a curse. Suharto takes
down his hat and leaves the front door open.
A moment later the vicepresident
walks in wearing the same hat.

It's 1965
And our boys are running roughshod
over the PKI. You've seen Hitler, Stalin,
Mao, but you haven't seen the momentum
of history. 100 thousand, "staggering,"
"a gleam of light in Asia." Get my
portfolio, it's almost time for the parade.

"Even
     this small fragment of former
wealth came into the hands of
     the rapacious stranger."

But don't fuck with the World
Bank. Don't try to screw the
IMF. Or we might call for
"a democratic transition."

It's 1975
and the great Portuguese empire
is beads scattering from a broken thread.
"Kissingerian realism."
Oil reserves + American
Weapons = 200,000.
Indonesia took Timor,
Carter smiled, and the newspapers
were blank.

It's 1978
and the massacre in East Timor
is hitting its stride
into its third year.
European nations and America
creep in to tear off what hunks of
meat they can.

It's 1999
and the Timorese have voted
for independence. 75% percent of
the votes of 90% of the voters,
even under intimidation. Violence
of a sort we would find unreal
is exploding. Indonesia considers
this their domestic affair and is keeping
the rest of the world at bay. "the
pioneer and exemplar for every kind of
atrocity." The Phoenix and the Contras,
arise, going after every last citizen.

Burning churches,
modern assault rifles,
babies,
razor wire,
continuous gunfire,
systematically,
why wasn't the UN paying attention?