Atonement
1993
The sun is a wheel writing time in the sky
autumn smell of leaves and dust
its rosh-ha-shana watching us
The season of atonement comes
appeasing all the homeless ones
my people as the chosen ones
wrestling with god for reconciliation
Never having had a nation
chased through history from home to home
jews believe in the will to atone
believe that at -one -moment
everything can change
oppression and victimhood rearranged —
forgiveness.
‘Cos we’ve been railroaded and scapegoated
framed and shamed and blamed for 2,000 years
we came to expect the unexpected
nightmares of a race collected
and sent off on trains to be ashes forever —
Extinguished
but some of us got away.
I grew up among those European refugees
barely saved from the flames and talking strange
with numbers in blue
tattooed JEW
like expiration dates.
They came to the states to learn to be white
where their kids learned to kiss suffering good night
and their kids’ kids learned to sleep with mistrust
the ashes calling and the dust.
It’s inherited — PTSD — post traumatic stress disorder
trust no one outside the gates of your ghetto’s borders
maybe after World War 2
they should’ve given Germany to the Jews
instead of this 2,000 year migration route
Because a victim mentality pervades jewish life
& it keeps us turning on the knife edge of survival
the only home we know is the bible so
we turned our fears inward
made israel a victim state
and the u.s. media seals the fate
of a gated community, offers immunity
by feeding us one- sided images
of palestinian suicide bombers
and palestinian terrorism
But the victims in israel aren’t the jews,
if you choose to accuse anybody of terrorism
check out the hardware of military imperialism —
Cos zionism used to mean just simply going home to zion
but now zionism means
endless aggressive expansion
and violence in defense of endless aggressive expansion
And there’s an irony to this kind of zionism,
it’s internalized antisemitism
it means you believe that we’re meant to be
foreigners in every country but one
and that one has the most guns
and crazy people running it
Jews in israel live to protect a homeland
and there’s a disconnect
in thinking a homeland could ever save you
the next time they come to enslave you
Like a homeland could ever save african people,
native american people,
any indigenous people on land
from a racist conquerors with a gun in his hand
look at Palestine —
The deepening catastrophe of palestine
the bible says its the fire next time
but that’s this time
don’t you see
cos the right wing christians in power in this country
love Israel —
a military state right in the middle of all that hate
—its like a u.s. army base
right in the midddle of all those oil pipelines
It’s where the george bushes keep armageddon ticking
keep the born again christians licking their lips and tripping
imagining themselves saved forever in paradise
so the jews and the arabs are set up to fight the final battle
Bring on the holy apocalypse!
cos the book of revelation insists
and meanwhile, pump up the oil pressure
cos the corporations got to measure the treasure
they want to steal all that oil
from underneath the arab people’s soil
so the toiling of racism continues to boil
cooking the bones
of all the outsiders just trying to get home.
The elite us up as scapegoats again
for oil and war and armageddon
now we’re officially the chosen ones
chosen by the US government to wield the guns—
when will we learn?
Maybe next time, cos here comes the eternal victim line
“they all want us dead”
says my mother’s voice inside my head
“they all want you all dead”
repeat the media talking heads
So here’s apache helicopters, u.s. bulldozers
a government that’s just for you
all of this and an army too
and watch jews toughen
from those meek folks herded onto trains
set up to be the brains, the heartless enemy
on the front lines of the middle east
holocaust
What’s the cost
of turning into the oppressor?
Dark eyes at the barbed wire
shift
from the warsaw ghetto to ramullah
Each year at passover, jews say,
next year in jeruselem
no way!
next year in jeruselem we’ll be destroying lives and homes?
we’ll build the next camps?
jews will be the next drones
to lock step march into the future of the final war?
Are you sure we said that?
i didn’t say that.
i try to understand but who can understand?
—just put down your guns and share the land
Governments thrive
by driving our fears up to screech
in the US and in Israel its time to impeach these
testosterone soaked patriarchs in power
cos the people want peace
So, turn your grizzled cheek and see
the connection of all the meek
people manipulated by the powers that be
And let your power be to free
the earth forever from disconnection
pissed off gods and shadow projections
On this holy day, just learn to trust
as the golden leaves of rosh-ha-shana crumble to dust.
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