Cliff Poems
Tiananmen Square (Take a Picture)
The old way is burning,
the ashes are eaten,
and in front of grandness,
a firey proclamation.
It goes rise up new kingdom,
ye workers and servants,
rise up this morning,
a different day is dawning.
So on they marched,
bold lock step ordered in upward direction.
Stomp Stomp silent soldier mouth.
Clamp Clamp uniform clean and poor.
Tranquil Harmony God is no more.
See now there is an even greater cause to serve-
palaces to build, cheap materials to export,
spirits to watch and wills to control.
Tell tell told for the greater good with your brother
bow like an orphan in front of sensitive father.
Under cameras,
the Chinamen follow capital orders,
smoking cigarettes, putting their children to work selling flowers,
waiting
for the phase of this scheme when they can start dancing.
But men cannot sing statistics.
They cannot live in the stock market,
they cannot survive on propaganda alone.
There is no justice in a tank,
no shelter in a tunnel, no love in diplomatic relations.
Unsloganed, unprogrammed voices fill the wrong side of the sky,
are screamed and twisted into feeling by the atmosphere,
miss the checkpoints and speeding police vans,
fall to earth on deaf political ears.
In a circle I am listening.
Inside I am crying.
Oh Beijing Oh Washington
Just die already-
There is heaven that needs saving.
the ashes are eaten,
and in front of grandness,
a firey proclamation.
It goes rise up new kingdom,
ye workers and servants,
rise up this morning,
a different day is dawning.
So on they marched,
bold lock step ordered in upward direction.
Stomp Stomp silent soldier mouth.
Clamp Clamp uniform clean and poor.
Tranquil Harmony God is no more.
See now there is an even greater cause to serve-
palaces to build, cheap materials to export,
spirits to watch and wills to control.
Tell tell told for the greater good with your brother
bow like an orphan in front of sensitive father.
Under cameras,
the Chinamen follow capital orders,
smoking cigarettes, putting their children to work selling flowers,
waiting
for the phase of this scheme when they can start dancing.
But men cannot sing statistics.
They cannot live in the stock market,
they cannot survive on propaganda alone.
There is no justice in a tank,
no shelter in a tunnel, no love in diplomatic relations.
Unsloganed, unprogrammed voices fill the wrong side of the sky,
are screamed and twisted into feeling by the atmosphere,
miss the checkpoints and speeding police vans,
fall to earth on deaf political ears.
In a circle I am listening.
Inside I am crying.
Oh Beijing Oh Washington
Just die already-
There is heaven that needs saving.
Comment On This Poem ---
Tiananmen Square (Take a Picture)
Tiananmen Square (Take a Picture)
