Panama Canal
No blood is innocent
when it leaves the body.
From blue to red, blue to red
and the skin turns white.
Strange men came
in blooming pants,
tin hats,
stamped steel shirts.
They came to take everything
in the land
but when they entered
they sweated and died
they sweated and died from flies.
Strange men came.
This time
in funny round hats with rope,
curling mustaches,
tailored linen pants.
They came to move the land
but when they entered
they sweated and died
they sweated and died from flies.
Finally strange men came
they roughly rode horses
declared civil war
amongst the newcomers
The natives watched
and died as before.
The men came to carve the land
and when they entered
they killed the flies
and no blood was left innocent. – Bill Rood
This poem is courtesy of Art House Productions. For more information please contact: Christine Goodman, Director of Art House Productions Creating performance, broadcast and publishing opportunities for artists. P.O. Box 3264 Jersey City, N.J., 07302 (201) 915-9911, www.arthouseproductions.org