Friendly Fire
by Alan Sears
U.S. Friendly Fire Kills 8 Iraqis
friends like these who
need enemies
can’t tell the enemies from
the friends here
all look the same, speak the same language (whatever it is)
Hands UP! You’ve seen the movie
Don’t pretend you don’t
speak English
I’m talkin’ to you, LOUD
the universal tongue
what part of m-i-c-k-e-y m-o-u-s-e
don’t you understand?
I SAID
(Captain, we’ve got a situation here)
friendly fire
Stop! In the name of love
before we break you
error is
terrorists
and the remnants of the old regime
U.S. soldiers opened fire
on uniformed Iraqi policemen chasing
you assessed old oil wars opted for
a new one a formidable attack politics meant chasing
Hussein again
sins of the father who pulled out too soon
consummate the act
occupy Iraq
it burns burns burns
that friendly fire
the name of every Iraqi who dies
burnt into the memory
slow burn
blow back
no truth
storm troops
desert storm
fire storm
lots of fire
but no smoking gun
you gotta believe in the weapons of mass destruction
still got the receipt
filed under
old friends, old friends sat in their dark trench like dead ends
thanks for the memories
reverberations through generations
rubble trouble
we came we saw
we contracted out
Bechtel WorldCom Haliburton Creative Associates
with friends like these
who needs