PEACE! I’LL PASS

I have been having an itch lately. Scratch it off. Very funny of you. But it’s one of those itches that just won’t go away. A constant nag beneath the skin, you scratch and scratch but nothing. You want to peel off your skin and scratch the itchy spot.

Lately, with the looming Election Day fast approaching there has been a lot of peace talk. Peace this. Peace that. Suddenly we all understand our Anthem’s lines, “May we dwell in unity, Peace and liberty.” To some extent I say to hell with it. To hell with me too. Okay. Okay. Can I at least pack a bag on my way out?

Hear me out. One minute. Tick tock. I will be fast. Fifty-eight seconds remaining. How old is this country? Over fifty years. Damn we are getting old. And we are a proud nation. We shout from the rooftops our diversity as a people. A nation of over forty tribes.

Fifty seconds. Stereotypes aside. We are a proud people. That cannot be over emphasized. Our differences are our bonds. Talk of a paradox.

Forty-five seconds. Now, imagine fifty-year-old neighbors who apparently cannot get along. Childish, right? And we are funny neighbors. We started off by borrowing knowledge from each other. You know, how to cure some disease. How to farm. How to fight wars. Then times got tough. We barter traded. My cow for some of your maize. Then the guys with their metal snake came along. They infringed too much. We stood up and demanded our freedom. Along the way some foolish youth, without their knowledge crossed the lines drawn on the sand. New bloodlines were formed. A people of mixed blood.

Thirty-five seconds. What? Is your watch accurate? Couldn’t you use a Rolex? I hear it doesn’t even tick. Why am I vehemently against this peace preaching especially during the electioneering period? You are wondering. Because I think we are missing the point. The big picture. This is the time we should be looking at track records. Promises. Lies. The visions we have for the country. Our way forward. Instead we are all caught up in this peace rhetoric. We are missing the big picture.

Twenty seconds. Do you want to tell me for a people that have been together that long we can’t tolerate each other for a single date on some calendar? Why is it that suddenly we must be reminded of peace? I agree that some of us have been living in the piss and things are not looking up. But we have been living in peace. It is a sort of diversionary tactic. Our focus is off.

Nine seconds. Come the eighth of August we will be so glad that we voted peacefully that the leaders we _actually-vote for _will be second fiddle. And for the next five years we will have been short changed. The piss will continue stinking our lives. And the peace? You decide.

Five seconds. Have I at least made my point? We are a peaceful people. Period.

One second. Let me stop talking now.