[Newspoetry] I am a terrorist

[Joe Futrelle]

I am a terrorist.

I am a college student and opponent of the death penalty
whose dorm room door bears a poster of George W. Bush
as the grim reaper.
The FBI is questioning me about whether I have maps of Afghanistan.

I am a member of a radical Islamic group in Britain,
banned for being "anti-democratic", excepted from freedom of association
through a bizarre logic that practices what it preaches against.

I am a lawyer from the ACLU being asked by Fox News
whether I agree with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft that
civil libertarians are aiding terrorists by eroding "unity."
The pundit shouts me down before I can get my soundbites out.

I am a pacifist on a college campus
ridiculed by my peers for not appreciating the horror
of September 11, as if somehow the only way to appreciate it
is by killing.

You everyday fascists who feel this "unity",
and enjoy the benefits of U.S.-sponsored terror,
blissed-out under a patriotic media smokescreen
which only reports U.S. casualties,
shall I refuse to distinguish among you?

Shall I question you about your possible involvement
in the U.S. killings in Panama City?

Should I ban your fundamentalist Christian prayer groups
because your ideas resemble Ashcroft's?

Should I accuse you of not appreciating the horrors
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

I shall make no distinction between terrorism
and fascism.


--
Joe Futrelle
editor-within-chief
http://www.newspoetry.com/