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CounterPunch
December
7, 2002
Naturalization
by IAN HARVEY
I was born in England
And came to the U$ because my dad was ambitious----
Now I'm too entrenched to leave--
I'd be a Cuban compañero
If they'd adopt my woman and me,
If the U$ government let our children
Slip from the belly of the beast some times,
Maybe Xmas on Varadero Beach--
Better yet----youth brigades in the steaming cane fields for
the holidays--
I am an unofficial citizen of the world!
U$ naturalization is most unnatural,
Alienated from history and reality,
But we all must take the test and oath--
Colors of our flag, how many
stars?
What do they mean?
And the stripes?
Who helped the Pilgrims in America?
They helped themselves--
What country did we fight during the Revolution?
(The one made by slave--holding, landed gentry
Like Washington and Jefferson)
Who is the Father of Our Country?
Independence Day for whom?
Not the wage slaves--
Which president freed the slaves?
They couldn't be stopped!
We are all equal and free
in America--
What is the most important right granted to U.S. citizens?
Granted?
The correct answer is: the right to vote--
Who elects Congress?
The people--
Less than thirty percent of us
Because we know it is a mockery
But still need the organization to change it
And the solidarity to stop them from dividing us--
Who was Martin Luther King, Junior?
The real one was anti--war, anti--poverty--
Where does freedom of speech
come from?
The rulers can't stop
us--
We tear the Bill of Rights from their clutching hands
Everyday--
Who has the power to declare war?
The corporations,
But they're only police actions anyway,
Peacekeeping missions of savage mercy--
Which countries were our enemies during World War II?
(They were as greedy for new lands as "we" were)
Name one purpose of the United Nations.
To do as Washington says--
What kind of government does the US have?
"A republic" is the answer on the key
Because they do have a representative democracy, those bourgeoisie--
This test is not a test
On what we have to know to live here,
But a test to see how well their propaganda works on us,
How long we are enthralled by the "American Dream"--
One year, five years, maybe more if we rely
On national news more than immigrants
Working beside us--the people don't advance
Through the rulers' generosity,
But only through their own struggles--
The people won't become naturalized
To an unnatural condition--
We'll utter the words they want us to say
Until we naturally sweep them away!
We will repeat the oath of allegiance,
Renouncing and abjuring all allegiance and fidelity
To any other place on Earth,
Swearing to defend the laws of the U$A
Against all enemies, foreign and domestic,
And only omit our promise to bear arms
Because of religious training and belief,
Belief in relation to a Supreme Being
Involving duties superior to those arising from any human relation,
Including essentially political, sociological,
Or philosophical views or mere personal moral code--
First God and then Uncle $am, before human beings--
Only fascists could hope for more--
Have you ever advocated, taught,
believed in,
Or knowingly supported or furthered the interests of communism?
Have you ever in any way associated with the Communist party
of the U$A?
As if they had any idea
what communism looks like--
Were you a Nazi between 1955 and 1945?
No other Nazis need confess,
But if you ever cheated on your income tax without an expensive
lawyer,
Have ever been a habitual drunkard (to use the modern
medical term),
Dodged the draft and would do it again,
Or participated in the persecution
Of any person because of race, religion, national origin, or
political opinion,
(Gays and lesbians not even on the list)
Unless you work for the FBI, CIA, or the INS itself,
Explain on separate paper--
Their oath is not an oath
Taken freely
With the benefit of discussion--
Some are willing to lie to feed their families,
Others believe the lies
For one year, five years, maybe more if they rely on national
news
More than immigrants working beside them--
The people don't advance
Through the rulers' generosity,
But only through their own struggles--
The people won't become naturalized
To an unnatural condition--
We will utter the words they want us to say
Until we naturally sweep them away!
Ian Harvey teaches English to Haitian and Mexican
refugees here in southwest Florida and has been an "alien"
himself for thirty--six years. Italicized print in the attached
poem comes directly from the testing material of the INS. He
can be reached at: mmediamaniac@yahoo.com
Goodbye Alaska
By ADAM ENGEL
His secretary bought the ticket
to Alaska; dropped it
on his desk in earnest;
left him simmering in oils of nightmare.
A series of blunders lead to this predicament.
Alaska is disintegrating. The natives'
earnest efforts to make perma--frost
stay stuck, a geological nightmare,
did nil to amend their predicament, and
Nanook, nabbed hording snow, received a ticket.
He awoke from a nightmare in
which a series of missteps
led him to Alaska where the trees and polar bears
are dying and earnest Eskimos, their igloos soft as sorbet,
pray for one--way tickets--the--hell--outta
the White Man's petroleum--assed predicament.
The ticket in his pocket read
"First In His Class, Seat A,"
but he didn't need it after all: his predicament was solved
when Alaska floated straight to him. True, it was
a nightmare for dedicated sunbathers,
but to be earnest, "life's a beach (full of Alaska)."
Adam Engel lives and writes in NYC. He can be reached
at asengel@attglobal.net
Cook Inside
by M. SHAHID ALAM
"Are we to renounce our
gods
for the sake of a mad poet?"
Quran (37: 36)
The sun and moon are signs of
God.
Unseal and find the book inside.
Listen to the river's gliding
song
And you may hear a brook inside.
You too would think the world
of her,
If youlike Qayswould look inside.
When Gabriel repeated, Read!
Muhammad froze and shook inside.
Muhammad brought the idols down.
Have yousince thenlooked inside?
Shahid,
these pithy words are proof:
For ripeness you must cook inside.
M. Shahid Alam teaches economics
at Northeastern University.
Copyright: M. Shahid Alam.
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