how many yellow ribbons do you need?

how many yellow ribbons make it ok - justify the pain - make the killing go away?

how many yellow ribbons will it take to soak up all the blood, bandage all the wounds, remove the DU, and give out water -n- food?

how many yellow ribbons for the five hundred thousand children that have died as a result of american enforced sanctions?

how many yellow ribbons do we need to justify this invasion and military occupation?

do we need a colored ribbon for every injustice endorsed - silently or violently?

how about blood red for the thousands killed and kidnapped by the AUC, those colombian right wing paramilitaries groups funded overtly by you and me and trained in fort benning?

maybe olive tree green for the infinity of daily horrors inflicted by the IDF on palestinians funded by our tax dollars and american corporations?

or collar blue for the millions of working poor consistently ignored by the rich white males up in big white houses who emphasis is weapons of mass destruction not health care prrgrams.

but what about the

dead vietnamese - the dead chlieans - the dead japanese - the dead mexicans - the dead yugoslavians - the dead chinese - the the dead cubans - the dead cambodians - the dead koreans - the dead afghanis - the dead native americans - the dead africans.

by my account roy g. biv is busy and every fucking tree in america should look like a goddamn rainbow while a governmental commission researches the next color designed to suck sympathy out of an already emotionless society.

how many yellow ribbons to cover your eyes?
how many yellow ribbons to cover your mouth?
how many yellow ribbons to tie up your arms?
how many yellow ribbons to bind your ankles?
how many yellow ribbons to strap you down?

how many yellow ribbons to kill each of your senses so you can join the mass of numb mindless zombies

cause tying a ribbon around a tree makes it all ok -makes the dead come alive - makes the killing go away - makes it right - it justifies

so, i ask you again -

How many yellow ribbons do you need?