Three political poems by Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal

Three poems
by Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal

BODY BAG

I had a body bag
with my name on it.
Luckily, I was just
another reject.

My mental problem was
a blessing from God.
He made me in such a
way that I was spared

from the battlefield. I
wanted to enlist
just to please those who think
the war is good. But

I have had visions on
the contrary. I
saw myself inside a
body bag. I did

the world no favor by
dying in battle.
My family was at the
service wishing me

alive instead of dead.
It is a good thing
I flipped out in front of
the recruiters and

I was sent home. There would
be no body bag
for me. There would be no
dumb parade for me.

++++++++++++++++++++

NEW VIOLENCE

What play do we watch, a wartime ditty,
where guns and planes are more than mere props,
and blasphemies are uttered
by bad actors, time after time,
for values which can only be attained through violence?

The coward wolves send out the brave lambs
to an unforgiving slaughterhouse.
No swift foot could outrun a bullet.
A hunger for life cannot stop a bomb.
Why should our values only be achieved through violence?

What mother could recognize her child
with arms and legs excised, their heads blown clear off,
their minds lost to blood, hate, and the
darkness of war? What values can
be learned through bloody violence against humanity?

Let them play their bloody games.
Perhaps our values might change as a result of this new violence.

++++++++++++++++++++

CANADA BOUND

I watch my young boy
riding his bike in
the backyard. He is
free to play and live.

I read the papers
and see the men of
war calling for a
draft and ten more years

extension to their
war. In seven years
my boy would be of
age for recruitment.

I wonder if there
is a place beyond
these borders that would
like to protect him,

keep him free of harm,
away from men of
war, who would send my
young boy to slaughter.


Author bio:

Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal was born in Mexico. He works in the mental health field in Los Angeles, CA. His first book of poems, Raw Materials, was published by Pygmy Forest Press. His first chapbook, Without Peace, was published by Kendra Steiner Editions. A second chapbook will be available in December 2007 from Kendra Steiner Editions.