Every now and then there are these iconic moments in the history of the planet that become monuments to man's inhumanity to man (and woman). One such has always been Guernica, the hapless Basque town that was bombed into rubble by the German Luftwaffe Condor Legion and Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria in 1936 in support of Franco's Nationalist war against Republican forces, and also, apparently, as collective punishment by the Germans for the death of one of their pilots nearby. It was the first city demolished from the air and set the precedent for bombing civilian populations. Picasso immortalized Guernica with his painting of the same name.
There have been other iconic Guernicas since then, where whole cities are sacrificed to the dogs of war in collective punishment for rebelling against the powerful, such as, just recently in Iraq, the city of Fallujah. Now we have Gaza.
I am not a painter, but I can spin a few lines of poetry, so below is a poem I wrote about this ongoing slaughter. Furthermore, the whole world is invited to express themselves about the outrage of Gaza through the arts. (Hit Printer Friendly to view poem in one piece.)
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Reviving the Embers of Guernica
by Mac McKinney
The ashes of Guernica are stirring again.
The embers of ruins are glowing again,
whispering the name of Gaaazaaa.
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The ghostly Luftwaffe is flying again,
searing and blackening the skies overhead,
launching its terror on Gaza.
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The Fascist race is marching again,
teaching new Basques a lesson again,
hundreds for one, their formula.
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The plotting board is bristling again
with targets for bloodlust and suffering again.
Struggle is futile, bombs hammer.
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The well-dressed men are dissembling again,
masking their sadism with speeches again,
blaming the victim's resistance.
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The cries of children are echoing again.
Shrieks of women piercing ears again,
while buildings collapse throughout Gaza.
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Somewhere an artist is stirring again,
savagery moving his hand again
to capture the sorrow of Gaza,
the latest, not last, Guernica.
