Author: Joshua Machao - 2012-03-14

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SATuRN
With her circles of concern
Stands firm despite fires that burn
Whether you are home-schooled or college
Let us all recognize and pay homage
To her rings of infinite knowledge

I heard once through the muttering air
How proximity bred calamity
Intimacy came with unwanted seeds
As broken families lay scattered
By a way of life shattered
I heard with dismay
How the calamity
Ravaged nations
Stole precious futures
Leaving in its wake
The stench of death in the air

I heard how once
Not so long ago
Boardrooms
Criss-crossed the earth in jet-fumes
Searching for answers
In intellectual rhetoric
Consequently
Abstraction bred distraction
While ground zero
That imperfect dust-cloud of unsung heroes
Faded into the limits of our ignorance

I heard through the magic of Kalahari sand-dunes
How contradictions added flavor
To local superstitions
Conspiracy theory suspicions
Mixing with frivolous and expensive mind games
People dying while we asked
The questions with no meaning
And offered them solutions with no sustainability

I don't dare go back there
Past lessons should have be learnt well
And who in his right mind would chose hell
Over a heaven of their own making

I don't mean to scare you
At least not intentionally
However,
I implore thee
Know your enemy
He walks contemptuously
With no fear
Over-riding the protocols
Continuously learning how to resist everything thrown at him

We need the new tools to fight the new challenges
We must adapt or die
The gauntlet truth has never been more apparent
We must change
After all
Our enemy changes shells every so often
Mutates into a multiplicity of variants

That's why we are thankful to be here
For this is SATuRN
The ringed planet
Each ring playing its part to create a beautiful world
This is SATuRN
Where the centre must hold the greatest importance
So that the circles of concern can accommodate its needs
So I implore you
As we sit here
Deliberate here
And learn here
Let us remember the people
They lie in the centre and are the centre
They are the ground zero survivors waiting to participate in their own survival
Needing the tools to see what we see
So that they, not us,
Can take the appropriate actions

And finally,
This is SATuRN
Whose effects will reverberate across these savanna plains
To manifest into a bright future we can all live with
This is SATuRN
Where we have come to strengthen our resistance
Against the growing threat of drug resistance
This is SATuRN
Where hope and great minds have gathered
To strengthen and expand our circles of concern

Joshua Machao 2011
Poet. Writer. Performer
Exodus Live Poetry! Collective

Copyright
The above body of work remains the intellectual and creative property of the artist and should remain intact. No further transmission or use of the work, in any form, electronic or otherwise permitted without the express written consent of the artist. Contact Joshua Machao at jtmachao@gmail.com

SATuRN is grateful for this beautiful poem that was recited in the openning of our 6th annual workshop in Botswana

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