"Rwanda" by Jan Haag

RWANDA

by Jan Haag

The eyes burn,
the nose itches,
the belly craves,
and
the bones in the wrists, ankles, and legs
throb --
but the joys of the body are not unknown
as the mind grows,
and perhaps
even a little wisdom is honed.

I wake breathless in the morning,
deep from the warmth of sleep,
I hear the birds chirping in the dark,
think about God,
wonder what it is all about,
name my ten gratitudes,
try not to be cynical
or shrewd,

try to remember the surge of spring in the veins,
the passions, the love.

All calm now,
tempered
with disbelieving
almost everything taught to me
by man.

What a brain-wash it all is,
steeped in the illusions of "our way"
which is the way
that has led the world to such
a catastrophe as
Rwanda.

Saw a movie last night on the million dead,
created by our greed,
our culture,
our Christianity.

The solution?

Forget the UN, propagated by our
commerce.
Take all the Western Colonialists
(who thrive more today then ever)
add them to all the Western-educated
Rwandans,
and put them out of their misery.

Perhaps then the 10,000 years of peace
will descent on Africa again.

When our civilization has failed completely
as a humanitarian enterprise,
why do we still think we can solve
the problems we have
created?

We don't.
We,
the generals and the suited elite,
enjoy the problems
as "the great game"
like the British were playing
all around the world
in the old days,
destroying one culture after another.

Enter.
Divide.
Incite racial hatred --
and they'll kill each other.
While we stand by moaning our Christian hymns,
mouthing our hypocritical paens of peace.

Whoever made enough money at war-games
in peacetime?

Greed is the creed.
Even though the birds still sing
in the pre-dawn light.

"Rwanda" by Jan Haag is another poem about (surprise, surprise) Rwanda. It was written April 25, 1997. As Haag is from America not Rwanda, it makes sense that the poem is a protest rather than an experience. Like many other poems about the Rwandan Genocide, "Rwanda" is anti-colonial. Haag is very strong when she says that the West should leave Rwanda. She even goes as far as to say, "Perhaps then the 10,000 years of peace/will descent on Africa again." It seems that Haag is not arguing that the UN should have done something, but rather that she wishes that the West would just leave Rwanda alone. To me, it seems like a dream than something that could happen. Although I would be all for Western Colonialists leaving and having 10,000 years of peace, just leaving after messing things up seems irresponsible. I don't know though, that is just my opinion.

The fact that I have not been able to find a poem that is pro-UN demonstrates the general opinion about the UN in Rwanda.

http://janhaag.com/POrwanda.html