they exiled us from the lives we knew
dropped bombs in our jungles
laid land mines in our rice paddies
forced us out of our cities
made us trade thatched roofs and villages
for stucco buildings and suburbia
and then they try to sell us
their wilderness experiences
they complain that we neglect
to access the natural world
blind to the earth-connectedness
that allows us to keep growing
our gardens and staying alive
on hostile soil
they train us to believe it is civilized
to have squeaky clean convenient lives
built upon the torment of the factory workers
they have never been and will never see
but that it is important to once in a while
disappear into the forest (with a few high-tech supplies)
we will not forget what
has always been ours
we will not let them forget
that it was stolen
we will move toward a future
that refuses to forget that past.
title from woo woo.
narinda heng 