#334 - shame

1.xii.20

334

shame

 

should someone be ashamed of a picture?

of course they should

if the picture’s a lie

 

but it’s not just pictures

there all sorts of thieving

all sorts of lie

 

and who should be ashamed?

no you should be ashamed

 

here’s a picture of Australia

here’s a flag

ask whose

and ask why

 

a tit and tattle

not my choice

but

should I be ashamed of what’s done in my name?

let’s just for instance say the murder of innocents

non-combatants, the word children has been bandied

and should I be ashamed?

 

of the hushed up

of the dirty secret

medals handed out

of the chain of respectability

all up to sir someone

and queenly

 

39 civilians

cost me a lot to murder them

but damage is collateral

you pay your taxes too

 

and who should be ashamed?

no you should be ashamed

 

pictures?

there are plenty of which I’m ashamed

and all sorts of things

 

I’m ashamed of how some of my clothes were made

ashamed of what I, personally, have pumped into the atmosphere

ashamed of the daily vanishings – species, languages

 

I’m ashamed Rupert Murdoch was once an Australian

I’m ashamed of Smoko, his baseball cap

confected rage

confecting shames for others

in his painted corner

the little trump grovels

wants to make you shake his hand

 

if I say shame!

 

and who should be ashamed?

no you should be ashamed

 

I am ashamed of the song of the flag 

of all the weasel words spoken for me

 

ashamed my country was stolen

though I didn’t do it myself

though I know most of them are

still it’s a shame job, isn’t it?

see how we have to live

 

that farmer who mentioned the ant and the elephant

he was right on the money there

 

you might not see my black armband

but

I’m ashamed of eating the animals  

of museums stuffed with stolen goods

prisons we call zoos

I still visit the prisoners though

I’m ashamed of the human prisons too

 

ashamed of various empires

including this one now

I’m ashamed of the opium wars

 

and

here’s Smoko

lapping up the coal

here lick this

they’ll love you

in a mining seat

 

I’m ashamed of the dogs he whistles up

ashamed of hatred whipped for some votes

just enough to keep up the shame

 

and who should be ashamed?

no you should be ashamed

 

better to handle our shames ourselves

but we full and frank confess

 

am I ashamed of ?

Tiananmen, Tibet,

Xinjiang and the poor bloody Uighurs,

Hong Kong

The Great Leap Forward –

my own species’ stupidest ever moment

big things, really big

 

no, these are someone else’s

these are someone else’s shames

 

will reality come to the stolen land

will truth come

and who will we be invading next?

what will be the next lie to suck up?

to cover up

will murderers one day go to gaol?

or is it a shame to tell?