Manolis

Emmanuel Aligizakis (Manolis) is a Cretan-Canadian poet and author. He was recently appointed an honorary instructor and fellow of the International Arts Academy, and awarded a Master’s for the Arts in Literature. He has written three novels and numerous collections of poetry, which are steadily being released as published works. His poetry has been translated into Romanian, Swedish, German, Hungarian, Ukrainian, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, Serbian, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, languages and has been published in book form or in magazines in various countries. He now lives in White Rock, where he spends his time writing, gardening, traveling, and heading Libros Libertad, an unorthodox and independent publishing company which he founded in 2006 with the mission of publishing literary books..

CODE NAME: MEDUSA

We came we saw he died — *

madam secretary said

glance gleamed with satisfaction
reincarnated Medusa
petrified the infidels

created rock formations
severed from shoulders
shuttered tips of toes
tumbling to earth

justice for all —

she declared

and we stood astound by her clarity
no debate
nor ambivalence
just business
each declaration of war

kept bomb makers busy

*Said by the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton,
on the occasion of the Kaddafi killing.

THINK TANK

They analyze, calculate
disagree on the number of casualties
collateral damage
enemies in a faraway land

they think —

unlike the tank which shoots
four kilometers away
to obliterate the structure
of the faceless enemy hiding inside

they think —

calculate the value of projectile
opposite the pounds of flesh
inhabitants of building

they conclude —

it was all worthy of it *

*Said by Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, referring to
the 500000 dead Iraqi children during the Iraqi War.

COALITION

They assembled from north
and south, from eastern lands and
western territories they gathered

the coalition of the willing
and they reached a conclusion

neocons would attack the western flank
neo-liberals would bomb the eastern sand-dunes
the socialists would secure the north
free marketers would advance from the south

no inch of this country should
be left free to freedom

humanitarians would drop rations
of food in plastic containers
fried rice, mashed potatoes
preservatives and ambience

nations assembled and in unison
they reached an agreement
for the good of the inhabitants
they had to cleanse the land
of undesirable pollutants
and its disapproved freedom

From The Medusa Glance
by Manolis
© 2017 Manolis
Published by Ekstasis Editions