Rosemary Hills

Rosemary hills of Andalucia
long path to the once barricades
a view of the white and beige brown village
filled with Franco kids
who don’t remember
and the ones who do
did they shoot too?
as soon as you enjoy
the birds singing
there come the flies too
my olive skin
sucks the sun
and this morning
lying on the roof
taking pleasure
in my solitude
no human voice around
to frame my mind
long live Spain
in my solitude
Rosemary Hills
telling the story
of the Hispanic’s fears
long ago
and the gypsies
dancing with Moors
a flamenco child
was born
for a civil war
you need a long history
of hate
and vigor
you need fear and fear
and again fear
with ignorance
and a love
to be locked in
in your crowded
small world.
you need to feel so similar to some
and hence so different to others
you really need to be convinced of this
in order to be prepared
to shoot.
down with Spain
of the idiots
and long live
the rosemary hills
the Alpujarras mountains
and the Sierra Nevada
with the snow on top
looking so close.
forget the greenish plastics
covering the EC tomatoes
and the cucumbers
forget the disturbed view
of the valley
just look at the mountain
hoping the plastic farms
won’t take over
before long
or lie naked on the roof
enjoy the sun
fight the flies
hear the birds’ songs
and look forward
to not being here
or anywhere
in fifty years
Enjoy the second day
of November
and the blessing sun
Instead of killing the
tigers and the sharks
couldn’t they
extinct
the flies?
Vida Kashizadeh
2nd Nov 2000
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