Smug white men
Drive around in pick ups
These days before the election,
Flags flying like the
The Taliban used to
In Afghanistan,
Clouds of choking dust
In their wake
They appear suddenly here too,
Extracting consent
From your startled silence
As they flash by
Grinning like thieves
Arm dangling from an open window
Wrist draped over the steering wheel
Deluded masters of all they survey
And I wonder if it’s
Ignorance or evil
That drives them?
America, Afghanistan
It’s equally hard to know.
We are but a single humanity,
That much at least is clear.
Charles Oberkehr 