Lion's Roar : Published Writing

This poem is not about Timor

Publication: Science for Peace Website

This is not about Timor
this is not about Jakarta
it's not about Suharto
it's not about militias

This is not about Asia and their "lack of western values"

This is about Longueil Quebec
this is about London Ontario,
this is about Ottawa
this is about planes and tanks and bullets
this is about miners and oil companies and CIDA and bankers

This is about Toronto and Tokyo and Texas

This is about the president of Inco asking: Can you guarantee us
a "stable labour climate", a "secure source of materials"?
No one ever says: can you guarantee no unions, no environmental laws,
no local control over resources
No one ever says: can you guarantee no witnesses, no evidence, no bodies

it just

This is about Just making a sale, Just shipping a crate, Just pulling a trigger
Just
paying a mortgage

This is not about Jakarta
This is not about Timor
It is about
Twenty-four years
of Toronto and Tokyo and Texas