tarek chemaly
three books
2009
\_Front page
\_Strata
read
\_getting the news
  from poems
\_Archewallogy
\_Jnune 7 – 2009
\_earlier writings
(2002/2003)
(| EN | FR |)
o-----////()/---[getting the news from poems]------(| Tarek Chemaly · 2009 |)------¬ contents
Exodus 2003

All rolled into one

Is the moon made of cheese?
Can anyone tell me please,
Maybe the man on the moon,
Can send me an answer soon.

Some questions will always linger,
For an answer will surely be eager,
Will Malibu Barbie ever age?
Will Action Man stop his rage?

Silicon implants, and fake breasts,
Platinum blondes where the sun never sets,
The highest bidder is the one who won the bets,
Killing the night away on queen-sized beds.

In a land where love is eternal as long as it lasts,
Where silver screen is duplicated with B-type casts,
Where 15 minutes are you shot to fame,
And to get it, all is allowed, including shame.

Where miscellaneous news are stranger than reality,
Where promises of eternal life seek to defeat mortality,
Where everything is protected by patents and copyright,
Where obese everyday people fight to see a dim light.

Let the whole world be westernized,
Let the world order be revised,
Let all the populations have the same wishes,
From grilling machines to plastic dishes.

Let the aboriginal tribes cover up in shopping mall garments,
Let all the indigenous people watch the same news fragments,
Let all countries have the exact defining moments,
Let all religions boil down to Christian convents.

Let the whole equation be simplified to one parameter,
Where the entire context is defined by a single perimeter,
If humanity cannot coexist when made up of differences,
Maybe we should simply unify the diverse references.

Anyone who does not look like me will have to disappear,
Anyone who does not think like me, for his life he will fear,
He who does not share my tastes, of his likes you will never hear,
But why define the world according to me and I hold dear?

Because if you disagree, you may kiss my rear.
10

Tarek Chemaly, “All rolled into one”, getting the news from poems (2009), p. 10.

Tarek Chemaly’s three books of 2009, published on 111101 with the author’s permission. getting the news from poems: layout Mike Awad. Archewallogy: design Farah Samman, cover Ashekman. Jnune 7 – 2009: with Rami El Khoury, Upstairs Publishing; photographs as credited on each page.