SALUTE

To every animal who eats or shoots his own kind

And every hunter with rifles mounted in pickup trucks

And every private marksman or minuteman

with telescopic sight

And every redneck in boots with dogs

and sawed-off shotguns

And every Peace Officer with dogs

trained to track & kill

And every plainclothesman or undercover agent

with shoulderholster full of death

And every servant of the people gunning down people

or shooting-to-kill fleeing felons

And every Guardia Civil in any country guarding civilians

with handcuffs & carbines

And every border guard at no matter what Check Point Charley

on no matter which side of which Berlin Wall

Bamboo or Tortilla curtain

And every elite statetrooper highwaypatrollman in custom-

tailored ridingpants & plastic crash helmet

& shoestring necktie & sixshooter in silver-

studded holster

And every prowlcar with riotguns & sirens and every riot-tank

with mace & teargas

And every crackpilot with rockets & napalm underwing

And every skypilot blessing bombers at takeoff

And any State Department of any superstate selling guns

to both sides

And every Nationalist of no matter what Nation in no matter

what world Black Brown or White

who kills for his Nation

And every prophet or poet with gun or shiv and any enforcer

of spiritual enlightenment with force and any

enforcer of the power of any state with Power

And to any and all who kill & kill & kill & kill for Peace

I raise my middle finger

in the only proper salute


Lawrence Ferlinghetti