by Alan Catlin
They used parts scavenged
from aircraft for small arms
fire, larger weapons require
more imagination, harder work
dismantling fuselage, cockpits
shot to hell by hand held missile
launchers, provided by CIA spooks,
Western allies not yet on the ground,
saturation bombings a firefight lit
night impressed upon future warriors
of Afghanistan resistance, no recruitment
necessary.
Alan Catlin's latest chapbook is a long poem, "Thou Shalt Not Kill", an updating of Rexroth's seminal poem of the same name. Whereas Rexroth riffs on the abuses of the Eisenhower adminstration, the update observes abuses of power in the current administration with particular attention to the cynical, criminal behavior towards the Katrina hurricane victims. One year later, the victims are not forgotten. No matter how many candles the Bushes light, the appalling lack of humanity and the blatant hypocrisy of the folks in charge is as apparent as the disenfranchised, the homeless, and the poverty stricken people of the Gulf states.