Thursday, September 14, 2006

The Fifth Square



The Board:
In a black and white world will the number of your square be decided by other hands,
hands no different to yours; five fingers on the end of an arm?
Hands with access to the gilded edge of the world.
Cold hands, warm hands, hands that hold, hands that push or shove
Unskilled hands for calloused heart, hands without love, hands in glove
with the machinations of empire that grind away at the bones of those who labour
…and know little return.

The 1st Square:
And in your square, shared with so many others, do you turn to the one standing next to you and call him fool?
Do you stand on his toes while smiling in his face?
Do you climb on the back of those who would bend?
Will you accept your place on the square without ever questioning the board’s purpose, without seeing the square adjacent?

The 2nd Square:
And you knights on the next square, standing isolated, ostracised and wondering why.
Graced with assault by legislation backed and cold hands directed so that those who would leave their allocated square are beaten into shape.
Riot control and criminal conviction by quota and paperwork performed.
Shoulder to shoulder on your uniformed and crowded square, jostle for position, what brings you here?
What misguided need to oversee, to enforce?

The 3rd Square:
And you who by fair means or foul has managed to pay for your place in this particular square; who jostle for position in front of cameras and hacks; you with your plastic enhancements and genocide bodies – how different is your square?
Do you climb over the bodies of those who went before?

The 4th Square:
And you who occupy this space by birthright raised or corruption gained; your path cleared by those in the squares that you dare not enter for fear of being ripped limb from limb by the angry mob; squares that do not exist for you other than to exploit.
What worms do writhe beneath your skin; surrounded as you are by high walls electric where you only have yourself to consult and where your view is filtered by distance and conspiracy?

Triangle (Judgement/Reward):
Don’t kid yourself, there is no redemption for persistent ignorance in the face of overwhelming enlightenment.
The path you walk is yours alone – it is your responsibility to find out.
There is no heaven for martyred killers.
There is no hell for martyr killers.
You will not be forgiven by history; you will merely be forgotten or written out…
…providing, of course, that your hands leave us with a history to write.

Circle (The 5th Square):
Theorist; Anarchist; Atheist; Speaker in Tongues
Individualist; Philanthropist; Hippie-Beatnik; Writer of Wrongs
Questioner; Curious Kat; Witch and Discredited Intellectual
Shouting out loud with words ineffectual
What the fuck are you doing thinking you’re special?
Get on with the job of blurring the borders
between black and white square
Between requests and orders
shout louder; let us know you are there.


1 comment:

Rancho Perros Bravos said...

The world divided into black and white squares, what a bleak outlook. If only we could erase the lines and see all the colors.

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