War Drums

I want to dance...

I want to stomp my feet

To a swinging Jazz beat

Or a funky Soul flow

I want to sway my hips

To a spicy Salsa

To a Guaguanco

I want to tap my hands

To a feisty Punta

To some Ethnic Grooves

Most of all,

I want my heart to beat

My soul to move

To a thumping drum

I want my thought’s strings to strum

My vocal chords to hum

A symphony...

For peace

Yes... For Peace!!

Peace because...

The drums of war

Are drowning out the lively beat

I mould my life to

Peace because...

The screams of dying innocents

Are louder than the lyrics

To my favourite song

Peace because...

I want to feel the boom of a bass drum

Not the sonic boom

Of a fighter jet

Peace because...

I want to hear the rat-tat-tat

Of a snare drum

Not that of an M16

Peace because...

I want to hear the crash of a mighty cymbal

Not that of broken homes, broken dreams

And broken windows

Peace because...

I want to feel the thud of a thundering beat

Vibrating on my floor

Not that of balled fists against a poor man’s door

Peace because...

I want my subwoofer

To rattle the walls of my house

Not the rumbling engine of a tank

Peace because...

I can’t dance to this new sound

To this new beat

My feet won’t move

And my hips won’t sway

My ears can’t groove to the rhymes they spit

Or the tunes they play

War Drums can’t soothe my soul

And militant political propaganda

Is NOT poetry!!

So...

Give me handshakes

Not hand grenades...

Give me Cupid’s arrows

Not fifty calibre bullets...

Give me love songs

Not battle cries...

Give me ART!!

Not WAR...

© José V. Guerra Awe