Walking to Afghanistan

Walking to Afghanistan

Soon we will walk to Afghanistan because the oceans have all dried up

And the climate has changed

Changed our moods, our minds, and even changed the countries where we live

We will march with Burkas and Gucci handbags bought in Doha

We will have bandaids and moleskin for our blisters

Walking sticks from REI

Flashlights and bandanas on our heads

Tiki torches in our hands

We will be woke

We will be progressive

We will be far-right

We will be far-left

We will be angry at each other for being each other and not us

Our boots will stomp on the ground in front of the walls we put up

Our signs will signify our distaste for you

Then we will head home happy that we started our walk

Towards Afghanistan

Towards a new cause

Just

However

Wait a minute

Wait for that tolling of the ancient clock you have hung on your wall

Wait

Again, just wait

Until all of your sureness

All those facts and UN resolutions you have memorized to prove your point

Prove how terrible the investment in me

In my country

In my people

Really is

You were here to win a war

No, you were here to win hearts and minds

No, you were here to build us up so that we

Could resist

Could survive

Yet when you were done

You had a new plan

A better plan

Cost-saving

You moved on and shook our hands

Gave us bread and cheese

Left us with some spray paint to cover up the signs that you were here and had a purpose at some point

Now you are turning again

Trying to knock down my iron dome

Equivocating in simple words 

That should not be so equivocal 

Yet they are

Filling the college campuses with the fuel of your cause

Your narrative

Building your ground troops

Standing on your platforms

With megaphones to project

Dictaphones to record

iPhones to capture selfies

Ever so woke

While Afghanistan begins to fade

Into blue burkas 

Dust

Storm

While your footsteps fade 

From that landscape