A TOAST TO THE AS IF LIFE

A TOAST TO THE AS IF LIFE

- by W.D.K

As if Idi Amin never did those gross things
to Uganda, and so much Africa did not copy.

As if the year Zero never began in Kampuchea
with ideas as legacy in library shelves of skulls.

As if Gravrilo Princip was not full of hate & worth a statue in
Sarejevo, as if the politics of rancour, of resentment

was a thing of the past, as if the hate of unforgiveness
was not at work in the world like a feral virus.

As if we could all play life between the kerbs,
with footpaths and bins and letterboxes to

get out of where it is our neighbours go. As if we can
go on tour all about & out of it with just money.

As if you never ate sausages or chicken, as if the veal
rennet in your life's cheese was grown on aspic.

As if Darwin wasn't bombed. As if the 2nd world war
in Asia & in Timor & PNG & the Pacific never was.

As if Argentina was a truthful State, as if Uruguay were
good sports. As if Egypt was a place of justice.

As if the Palestine victim story was not told & did not arm
with many guns & kill & kill long before 1948.

As if the Suez crisis was any legitimate
anti-colonialism against its engineers & builders.

As if Pakistan's Islamist creation in separation
from India is not a perpetually violent tragedy.

As if we really lived in this world on call,
as if these cafes and those booked dinner tables

really were the watchtowers, as if the right rock
music made any difference, as if right attitude did.

As if what we do is no living concern so much as
the progressiveness and acceptance of attitude we take.


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- 1st draft 30 June 2014,