"my god" by Steve Dalachinsky/The Ill-logics of War

Though I'm pretty much drenched in the intellectual aspects of the Catholic tradition (I've gone to Jesuit high school, college, and now teach at a Jesuit institution) I've never been a huge fan of Just War Theory. Initiated by St. Augustine during a time when Christianity was adapting its eschatological ethics to being the official religion of the Roman Empire, Just War Theory is an intellectually-engaged approach to mesh religion and warfare. Which sounds like a good idea, except there's never been a war in my lifetime when someone didn't employ Just War Theory to justify the conflict. In other words, the theory seems a bit elastic for my taste. Steve Dalachinsky's poem "my god" approaches the problem of rationalist consequences through its relentless parental rhetoric: "because you do this, I shall do this..."

"my god"

clouds & sun pacing back & forth
in the sky

because they are harsh to us
we turn against our allies

because they are harsh to us
we kill their sons & daughters

because they are harsh to us
we loot their national treasures

because they are harsh to us
we silence all their voices

because they are harsh to us
we set up puppet governments

because they are harsh to us
we make them a "democracy"

because they are harsh to us
we fill them up with fast foods

because they are harsh to us
we steal their natural resources

because they are harsh to us
we incorporate their bodies

because they are harsh to us
we turn them into factories

the clouds dominate the sky today
the waves crash violently
upon this usually calm shore
my shoulders & chest convulse w/shivers
my teeth chatter
my bloodless fingers go stiff & numb

the gulls are beginning to circle
only a few children & old men are brave enough
to swim at this hr
the hammering has stopped
the girders silenced
the crane still creaks in the wind
helicopters still patrol
the music's turned nasty like the weather
as the water reaches my feet
i feel a warmth within the undercurrent
like a comforter
a message from hell

because they are harsh to us.......
because they are harsh to us.......

the sailboat beyond the rocks seems so relaxed
the white of its sail so still
3 children run from the ocean
the oldest ( a girl ) waves something
chanting
"i found a dollar --- i found a dollar"
& she had
in the water among the waves the waves
.....the last place you expect to find
C-A-P-I-T-A-L-I-S-M
the waves .....

because they are harsh to us
we destroy them then defend them
we befriend them then destroy them

then

we fold up our blankets & go home

because they are harsh to us
we are harsh to them

because we are harsh to them
they are harsh to us


steve dalachinsky brighton beach brooklyn ny 8/9/04