Poet Rick Burnley: "Iran in the Crosshairs" (2007)

"Iran in the Crosshairs" by Rick Burnley

Poet Rick Burnley, October 2007

Poet and activist Rick Burnley has contributed his new poem warning against the next potential war, "Iran in the Crosshairs". Burnley, a New Mexico native, was designated by Cindy Sheehan as the Poet Laureate of Camp Casey's Crawford, Texas encampment outside President Bush's ranch in 2005. Rick Burnley's spoken word political poetry educates, amuses, and awakens audiences to the oneness of humanity.

An excerpt from Burnley's poem "Why Do They Hate Us?" from February 2003:

We’ve overthrown many governments,
And installed the leaders we choose,
It’s good for America’s profits,
And only the poor people lose.

We did this in Chile, Guatemala and Iran,
In each case getting rid of a real good man;
In Chile we put in Pinochet,
Who murdered dozens of students on a typical day.

In Guatemala we did the same,
We backed murderous generals,
And we share the blame
For the 100,000 Indians who lay dead in the ground,
After our coup, no justice was found.

In Iran they elected a President,
But he wasn’t America’s choice,
We installed the Shah and his Peacock Throne,
Which made the rich rejoice,
But after a while, he became so corrupt,
That the people had to rebel,
They put in the Ayatollah, and told America, “Go To Hell!”

Iran In The Crosshairs

Wake up America, wake up
They're getting ready to do it again
They're planning to launch a war against the peace of the world
We're being lead by bloodthirsty men

That's right, these Neo Cons are getting ready to bomb Iran
And if that happens my brothers and sisters, it's going to hit the fan
Iran is in their cross hairs
And the armada is heading in
Three carrier groups are in the Straights of Hormuz
And we'll be guilty as sin
If we don't rise up to stop them
Before it gets to be too late
Because this act would set the world on fire
And endless wars would be our fate

King Georgie and Dick Vader think that they are the world's cop
And now after their disaster in Iraq, the other boot is going to drop

Soon we could expect an attack on our fleet
Which of course would be blamed on Iran
Then we'd retaliate with massive force
This is their bloody plan

Or maybe the dirty deed would take place
Back at home in the United States
And thousands would die, sacrificed for a lie
Because the empire never hesitates
To cold heartedly murder the innocent
In pursuit of their nefarious dreams
That leave a wake of tormented beings
Nightmares, terror, and endless screams

Then the president select would come on TV
And we'd hear his speech about this act of infamy
And then he'd inform us of our retaliation
And we'd rain death and destruction
On another sovereign nation

They know when America goes to war
We all come together in unity
We set aside our differences
And our leaders can act with impunity

Why might you ask, would they do something
So incredibly insane
That they know for sure before the act
Will cause such suffering and pain
Because with chaos and endless war
This cabal can stay in power
And before the courts of international law
They won't have to cower

Our rulers want to be in control of the entire Middle East
And Iran needs to be neutralized, that is the goal of this beast
And then on the regions resources, the Empire alone would feast

Their policy of preemptive war is against international law
Its time to wake up America
We've had a fascist coup d' etat

To start a war of aggression is the worst of all war crimes
And if America lets these thugs have their way
We'll all be facing hard times
And we'll be lucky if the Great Decider
Doesn't proclaim martial law
Because then the people of America
Would be caught in a fascist claw

So, call your congressmen and senators
And demand that they stop this crime
And we'd better do this and do it quickly
Because we're running out of time

Georgie and his partner, the Prince of Darkness
Are taking America to hell
Let's rise up, allies of life and love,
Let's purge this sulfurous smell.

~Rick Burnley