Afghan Rug

Afghan Rug

I've got an Afghan rug
I have the name of the village
Where it was made
I wonder if it still exists
To weave rugs such as this
I bought it before the Soviet invasion
I'm afraid the importer
Got the biggest margin

I wonder if the Taliban
Remember where they got
Their Stinger missiles
Who taught them how to fire
These powerful weapons

This rug burns deep orange fire
On my living room floor
Hues like the rocks of your mountains
I like my rug to remind me
Of rocks shattered blown apart
While B52s soar
Too high to be seen
With the naked eye

My rug reminds me
How many fibres to the centimetre square
How many childrens' nimble fingers
Made this woven treasure
Now lying sentinel still
Buried in sand

And children of today going hungry
As food cannot be brought to them
Through the reign of terror
From the ground to the sky
From confusion to oblivion
To carpet bombing
Willy Bach © 2001