Don't Talk to Me!

a poem

Photo by Dmitry Vechorko on Unsplash

Listen to an audio recording of Don’t Talk to Me:

Don’t talk to me about Jesus Christ
and how he died on the cross
to save humanity from sin
when every day for nineteen months
Palestinian children, mothers, fathers,
the sick, the elderly, the disabled
are sacrificed in the killing fields of Gaza
for our complicity and silence.
No, not another word 
about our Lord and Saviour!

Don’t talk to me about the rules-based order,
international humanitarian law, the ICJ or ICC,
when every day for nineteen months now
Israel has violated every law on the books
and evaded prosecution through bribery, 
extortion, and accusations of antisemitism 
because, God’s self-chosen people
are above all but God’s laws.
No, not another word 
about Thou shalt not kill!

Don’t talk to me about democracy,
freedom of speech and human rights,
when every day for nineteen months now 
pro-Palestinian protestors have been arrested
without charge, abducted and imprisoned 
in detention centres for deportation,
when journalists are harassed, interrogated,
silenced, and accused of terrorism
for telling the truth about Israel’s crimes.
No, not another word
about western civilization!

Don’t talk to me about right and wrong,
good and evil, good guys and bad guys,
when every day for nineteen months now, 
it’s perfectly acceptable to cheer for Israel,
to send more bombs, more drones, more shells,
yet it’s a crime to oppose genocide, torture, 
rape, starvation, displacement and war.
No, not another word
about morality! 

No more cheap talk!
No more special reports!
No more hollow speeches! 
No more sound and fury!
But if words are all you have,
then go ahead, try and tell me
how many mouths they'll feed,
how many wounds they’ll heal,
how many homes they’ll build,
how many lives they’ll save
before there’s no one left to save.

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