it started with the land
men love to own land
he drew circles made of gunpowder
around the people
land ancestral land
he said step on the crack
I’ll break your child’s body
he drew circles of gunpowder
closer and closer to the sea

then it was the sea
men love to own the sea
by hand and one at a time
he poisoned every fish
and carved holes in every boat
he said God loved my people
for them he parted the waves
let’s see what he does
for the damned
the sea did not part
but became red all the same

once the sea was red with blood
the man lamented gunpowder circles
and poison fish
but they refuse to die
and the man turned his face to the sky
from the sky comes rain
from the sky comes the dove
with sprigs of green in its beak
from the sky come manna
and quail
I must own the sky

so he filled the sky with fire
struck down the healers
and the hope
burned up all aid
and blocked the sun with smoke
he sang choke choke choke

one day someone told him
the sky is too vast you cannot own it
he looked them in the eye and said
then, stop me
from that day forward he waged war
on anyone who said he could not own the sky

one day God said to him my son
you do this violence in my name
but it does not honor me
so the man waged a war on God
and the holy people
of every nation and tongue
tore their garments
wore ashes and sackcloth
and begged god to strike him down
but God did not strike him down

and now the man owned the sky
above his land
above his sea
and people started to wonder
if perhaps he was a god himself
so they let him wage his righteous war
amen and let it be so