17 March 2003
Tom RaworthLISTEN UP
Why should we listen to Hans Blix
and all those other foreign pricks:
the faggot French who swallow snails
and kiss the cheeks of other males:
the Germans with their Nazi past
and leather pants and cars that last
longer than ours: the ungrateful Chinks
we let make all our clothes; those finks
should back us in whatever task —
we shouldn't even have to ask:
and as for creepy munchkin Putin...
a slimy asshole — no disputing!?
We saved those Russians from the reds —
they owe support. Those wimpish heads
of tiny states without the power
to have a radio in the shower
should fall in line behind George Bush
and join with him and Blair to push
the sword of truth through Saddam's guts
(no need for any ifs or buts)
we'll even do it without the backing
of UN cowards and their quacking —
remember how we thrashed the Nips
and fried them like potato chips?
God's on our side, he's white and Yankee
he'd drop the bombs, he'd drive a tank: we
know he's stronger than their Allah
as is our righteousness and valor!
We'll clip Mohammed's ears and pecker
And then move on to napalm Mecca.
Tom Raworth's Collected Poems was just published by Carcanet Press.
Raworth was born in London in 1938. During the 1970s he traveled and worked in the United States and Mexico, returning to England in 1977 to be Resident Poet at King's College, Cambridge, in which city he still lives. Since 1966 he has published more than forty books and pamphlets of poetry, prose and translations. His graphic work has been shown in France, Italy, and the United States, and he has collaborated and performed with musicians, painters and other poets. In 1991 he was invited to teach at the University of Cape Town, the first European writer thus distinguished for thirty years. His website is www.tomraworth.com .
Copyright 2003 by Tom Raworth