Dedicated to Sgt. Eric Schrumpf, sharpshooter with the 5th Marine Regiment, quoted in the New York Times (3/29/2003) after killing a civilian.
_________________________

barnyard fuss
time to behead
Another
Mother
will soon be dead
(contemptuously kicks
the protesting chicks) --
"the chick was in the way"

horse screams
in Spanish town
black and white anguish
the viewer surrounds
Earth turned to Hell
cries without sound
A Work of Art
(the pilots order a round)
no chivalry, no dogfights here
something new, killing on the ground
but draped on the day
the Secretary says --
"the chick was in the way"

Dresden, Hiroshima, My Lai --
for the sake of the guilty, innocents die.
We had to do it, they say. Why
don't they rise up and throw off the yoke
of the oppressors we fight? (What a joke --
if they could do that, we could stop this war.)
equally powerless, complacent whores
explain, justify, rationalize
turn the accusing finger aside
the future beckons
makes the powerful sweat
IT WILL BE OUR TURN ONE DAY YET.
"the chick was in the way"

Terror Strikes! A building falls --
Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu
atheist, secular, I-like-to-sleep-in
white, black, from all nations and races
liberal, conservative, capitalist pig
min-wage worker, fireman, priest
good, bad, guilty as sin
all united now, unwillingly
blurred by a commander
who accepts a certain human cost
to topple an enemy
most of them didn't vote for
and many of them were against.
Yet some still can't explain why
if 9/11 was wrong, why was Nagasaki right?
"the chick was in the way"

A National Network throws a fit
country fans don't take no shit
boycott, censor, throw off the air
we must be united with Bush and Blair
Pole to Pole, millions say no
traitors all to our common goal
the Few, the Powerful
insist you play your role --
"the Chick was in the way"

Mean Streets USA
wrong place, wrong time
children lie dead
for this, someone will die
Who'd volunteer
to pull the switch?
If it were a Troop
would that still be your wish?
what kind of a thug
would boast of his crime --
"the chick was in the way"

a family dies
no warning shots
a mother sees
her daughters' heads come off
missing foot
shredded skull
blood money, body bags
to make them whole
their country, their fault
we must achieve our goal
Guaranteed Victory
we've been sold --
"the chick was in the way"

The suffering of others, is it real?
If it were your family, how would you feel?
Your home, your country?
What could you bear?
How would we see
the armed men from over there?
To us, killers; to others, troops.
Right and wrong,
like language,
are loose --
"the chick was in the way"

Martians land --
or a world-power-to-be
kicks our ass in the year 2103.
Demolish this planet, by ire or nukes
Or to build a brand-new hyperspace bypass loop.

The chick
was in the way.