Jeff Aarles is a Montreal actor, poet, writer whose works have been performed recently at the Fringe festival...

This ain't no Lullaby

Alibi.

Chalab(a)i?

Lullaby...

Hmpf.

Indulge me for a moment, while

I step outside

I step outside

Indulge me while I step outside

My culture and my race.

I think I think I think I think

I look I read

I hear I write

I twist and turn to understand

The fact that’s in my face:

That the cradle of civilization has been rocked.

I see the carnage and the blood

(I step outside

I step outside...)

I hear the wails and blasts and thuds

And my neighbours’ silenced screams.

I think I think I think I feel

I look I read

I hear I write

(I step outside

I step outside...)

I twist and turn just to survive

This savagery, this End of Time:

The cradle of civilization has been rocked.