• NEWS
  • ABOUT
    • Bio
    • Awards
    • DMG
    • Beleza!
    • Horn
    • Commissions
  • MUSIC
    • DM Radio
  • EDUCATION
    • Lessons
    • Classes
    • Workshops
  • TOUR
    • Tour Support
    • Touring History
  • BLOG
  • MEDIA
    • Radio
    • Videos
    • Press Kit
    • Reviews
    • Interviews
    • Newsletters
    • Quotes
  • DISCOGRAPHY
    • 2022 Cascadia
    • 2016 Jazz Noir
    • 2014 Sagebrush Rebellion
    • 2010 Grant & Matheny
    • 2008 Best of Dmitri Matheny
    • 2007 Spiritu Sancto
    • 2006 The SnowCat
    • 2005 Nocturne
    • 2000 Santa's Got a Brand New Bag
    • 1998 Starlight Cafe
    • 1996 Penumbra
    • 1995 Red Reflections
  • SHOP
  • CONTACT

DMITRI MATHENY

  • NEWS
  • ABOUT
    • Bio
    • Awards
    • DMG
    • Beleza!
    • Horn
    • Commissions
  • MUSIC
    • DM Radio
  • EDUCATION
    • Lessons
    • Classes
    • Workshops
  • TOUR
    • Tour Support
    • Touring History
  • BLOG
  • MEDIA
    • Radio
    • Videos
    • Press Kit
    • Reviews
    • Interviews
    • Newsletters
    • Quotes
  • DISCOGRAPHY
    • 2022 Cascadia
    • 2016 Jazz Noir
    • 2014 Sagebrush Rebellion
    • 2010 Grant & Matheny
    • 2008 Best of Dmitri Matheny
    • 2007 Spiritu Sancto
    • 2006 The SnowCat
    • 2005 Nocturne
    • 2000 Santa's Got a Brand New Bag
    • 1998 Starlight Cafe
    • 1996 Penumbra
    • 1995 Red Reflections
  • SHOP
  • CONTACT
Back to all posts

GENETIC FLAW

We are human beings 

We kill each other 

That’s what we do 

 

We are created in the image of God 

the god of the Jews, Christians and Muslims 

who commands “Thou shalt not kill” 

who orders the ancient Israelites to kill 

all the Amalekites, every man, woman and child 

because they are an abomination to him 

kill their animals too and take their land 

God promised it through Abraham to you 

 

We fight wars to end all wars 

in the name of God and all that is good 

and holy and righteous and absolutely true 

to defend our vital national interests 

to protect our precious people from evil 

practiced by the heathen and ideologically impure 

 

We kill each other to keep America whole — 

brother against brother, sister against sister 

slave against slave and soak our soil 

with brotherly blood but the union is saved 

 

Turks lock Armenians in boxcars 

Turks, Iraqis and Iranians kill Kurds 

Hitler does genocide on gypsies and Jews 

Bosnians and Yugoslavs do ethnic cleansing 

Tutsis and Hutus too 

Shi’ites kill Sunnis 

Serbs kill the Kosovars 

And the union bombs both to oblivion 

 

Downtown a shirtless and shoeless man 

stands in the sidewalk and yells at me 

“See this ring in my nose? If you look 

at this ring in my nose I’ll kill you!” 

 

I look at it, chuckle and walk around him 

He does not kill me but yells again 

“Come back here you son of a bitch!” 

 

At that instant the Trench Coat Mafia are 

bombing and shooting, killing kids and teachers 

inside a Colorado school 

 

the union mourns 

 

the union agonizes and asks and argues 

about gun-control laws and teaching more 

conflict resolution classes to the kids and 

censoring all their pop-culture and 

getting secular humanism out and 

putting god and prayer back 

into the schools 

 

We are human beings 

created in the image of God 

We created a more perfect union 

We kill each other 

 

We tell the kids to vent their anger 

with words not weapons 

 

We kill each other with words too 

 

          —Bill Matheny

01/09/2022

  • Leave a comment
  • Share

in Mindfulness, Oral History, Mystery, Poetry/Song Lyrics, Bill Matheny

Leave a comment

©1996-2022 Dmitri Matheny. All Rights Reserved.
  • Log out