September 24, 2004

Listeners of the future come on and help me quick

* "It's gotta end...its just non-stop motherfucking lies." Wilco's Jeff Tweedy on the George Bush administration. [via chromewaves, who has a link so you can hear Tweedy's short rant.]

War Profit Litany
--- by Allen Ginsberg

To Ezra Pound

These are the names of the companies that have made
money from this war

nineteenhundredsixtyeight Annodomini fourthousand
eighty Hebraic

These are the Corporations who have profited by merchan-
dising skinburning phosphorous or shells fragmented
to thousands of fleshpiercing needles

and here listed money millions gained by each combine for
manufacture

and here are gains numbered, index'd swelling a decade, set
in order,

here named the Fathers in office in these industries, tele-
phones directing finance,

names of directors, makers of fates, and the names of the
stockholders of these destined Aggregates,

and here are the names of their ambassadors to the Capital,
representatives to legislature, those who sit drinking
in hotel lobbies to persuade,

and separate listed, those who drop Amphetamine with
military, gossip, argue, and persuade

suggesting policy naming language proposing strategy, this
done for fee as ambassadors to Pentagon, consul-
tants to military, paid by their industry:

and these are the names of the generals & captains mili-
tary, who know thus work for war goods manufactur-
ers;

and above these, listed, the names of the banks, combines,
investment trusts that control these industries:
and these are the names of the newspapers owned by these
banks

and these are the names of the airstations owned by these
combines;

and these are the numbers of thousands of citizens em-
ployed by these businesses named;

and the beginning of this accounting is 1958 and the end
1968, that static be contained in orderly mind,
coherent and definite,

and the first form of this litany begun first day December
1967 furthers this poem of these States.

December 1, 1967

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