domingo, diciembre 23, 2007

Road To Peace (Tom Waits)

TOM WAITS - "Road To Peace"
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards


Young Abdel Mahdi (Shahmay) was only 18 years old,
He was the youngest of nine children, never spent a night away from home.
And his mother held his photograph, opening the New York Times
To see the killing has intensified along the road to peace
There was a tall, thin boy with a whispy moustache disguised as an orthodox Jew
On a crowded bus in Jerusalem, some had survived World War Two
And the thunderous explosion blew out windows 200 yards away
With more retribution and seventeen dead along the road to peace
Now at King George Ave and Jaffa Road passengers boarded bus 14a
In the aisle next to the driver Abdel Mahdi (Shahmay)
And the last thing that he said on earth is "God is great and God is good"
And he blew them all to kingdom come upon the road to peace
Now in response to this another kiss of death was visited upon
Yasser Taha, Israel says is an Hamas senior militant
And Israel sent four choppers in, flames engulfed, tears wide open
And it killed his wife and his three year old child leaving only blackened skeletons
It's found his toddlers bottle and a pair of small shoes and they waved them in front of the cameras
But Israel says they did not know that his wife and child were in the car
There are roadblocks everywhere and only suffering on TV
Neither side will ever give up their smallest right along the road to peace
Israel launched it's latest campaign against Hamas on Tuesday
Two days later Hamas shot back and killed five Israeli soldiers
So thousands dead and wounded on both sides most of them middle eastern civilians
They fill the children full of hate to fight an old man's war and die upon the road to peace
"And this is our land we will fight with all our force" say the Palastinians and the Jews
Each side will cut off the hand of anyone who tries to stop the resistance
If the right eye offends thee then you must pluck it out
And Mahmoud Abbas said Sharon had been lost out along the road to peace
Once Kissinger said "we have no friends, America only has interests
"Now our president wants to be seen as a hero and he's hungry for re-election
But Bush is reluctant to risk his future in the fear of his political failures
So he plays chess at his desk and poses for the press 10,000 miles from the road to peace
In the video that they found at the home of Abdel Mahdi (Shahmay)
He held a Kalashnikov rifle and he spoke with a voice like a boy
He was an excellent student, he studied so hard, it was as if he had a future
He told his mother that he had a test that day out along the road to peace
The fundamentalist killing on both sides is standing in the path of peace
But tell me why are we arming the Israeli army with guns and tanks and bullets?
And if God is great and God is good why can't he change the hearts of men?
Well maybe God himself is lost and needs help
Maybe God himself he needs all of our help
Maybe God himself is lost and needs help
He's out upon the road to peace
Well maybe God himself is lost and needs help
Maybe God himself he needs all of our help
And he's lost upon the road to peace
And he's lost upon the road to peace
Out upon the road to peace.

domingo, diciembre 02, 2007

Hormigas


  • Si fuese un problema no lo sería de ocupación de espacio, sino de tiempo.
Veo, a veces incluso me doy cuenta que observo, personas que van y vienen con grandes, medianas y pequeñas ideas, a veces bien claras, otras veces no tanto. Pero están en un aparentemente constante movimiento.

La abusivamente utilizada analogía del hormiguero irremediablemente viene a mi cabeza. Hormiguitas que buscan comida e instintivamente siguen a la exploradora a la vez que mantienen ciertas pautas de comportamiento predeterminado casi genéticamente. Se asume que el bien común es el bien de la propia hormiga y si no lo llega a ser y no cumple totalmente las expectativas de hormiga, cualquiera que sean, será lo más cercano a conseguirlo que estará en toda su insignificante vida.

La composición jerárquica del hormiguero es indiscutible. Es lo más parecido que se encontrará a un sistema asimilado de castas. Nadie discute. Una obrera no pretenderá ser reina. La reina no excavará un túnel, ni irá a buscar alimento. Y, en caso de que alguna de ellas sencillamente desaparezca o muera, será sustituida sin dilación, asegurando así que la estructura permanecerá intacta y de esta forma se garantiza también la continuidad de la comunidad, del sistema impuesto.

Sólo una de ellas, la exploradora, nunca cesa de buscar, nunca termina de encontrar. Temo saber cómo se siente. Es imposible dejar de buscar cuando no se tiene claro ni "el qué". Hay que seguir buscando. El ambiente del hormiguero es insufrible. Permanecer en la corte junto a la reina un padecimiento. Estar todo el día cavando se me antoja terrible. He de seguir buscando. Salir a respirar aire nuevo.

El impulso de la hormiga exploradora, es tan sólo uno, encontrar sustento para el resto. Volverá con historias de mundos ajenos a la comunidad que nadie querrá escuchar. Verá cosas que nadie creerá. Una hormiga que no se comporta como tal es un peligro para la estructura social, podría incluso hacer creer al resto que no necesitan más que lo justo para comer y que solas podrían sobrevivir. Sería impulsarlas a agudizar el ingenio.

Con suerte para el resto, la exploradora callará y así no desestabilizará el equilibrio social estructural o bien, sus experiencias serán absorbidas por las demás como propias, algo así como un implante artificial de recuerdos. No es necesario visitar otros sitios, otros lugares, yo te los cuento y sino, en fotos te los muestro. No es necesario conocer gente, para eso se crearon los videojuegos. No es necesario ejercitarse, ve a un gimnasio para estar en movimiento. No es necesario pensar, estudia a otros que ya lo hicieron. No vayas a intentar ir a más, ese, no es tu puesto.

Y eso es lo que no quiero, miedo me da convertirme en una de esas personas con mucho pasado y poco futuro. Convertirme en otra hormiguita más del hormiguero. Seré hormiga exploradora, así muera en el intento, tal vez sea un problemilla en mi código genético.