Suffer no fear of* tropical storms,
They do relent, rebalance, reset.
Have no fear in the long, black night,
Its only day without the day.
But do fear the awful sound of wuka-wuka!
Do not fear the mighty blow,
All wind dies down before too long.
There is no fear for heat and cold,
It all just moderates in time.
But beware the wuka-wuka sound!
You mustn’t fear black smoke too much,
Firemen are surely on the way.
Nor panic from excessive speed,
Reduce will follow shortly on.
But so much fear in wuka-wuka! wuka-wuka!
Never fear a try at love,
Yet another may do the trick.
Do not fear to fail at goals,
New starts will show before too long.
Only wuka-wuka sounds are dire!
Do not fear the surgeon’s knife,
The goal’s to free you from disease.
Never fear the longest road,
The end’s in sight before too long.
But you must escape the wuka sound!
You must avoid the Black Carousel,
Grim wheel that just* gyres and turns
No music here, all wooden gears,
That speak in fearsome wuka sounds.
Do fear those clacking wuka sounds.
Foul beasts are seen to stand and glare
From on the platform of that wheel
With vicious smiles and carnal teeth
I could stretch and* see but few,
Of this wuka-wuka menagerie.
Better hope it will pass by
The wuka-wuka at your face,
All would be lost, all good be gone,
Your fate-to see the beasts up close
Wuka-wuka, wuka
The first beast is called, “The Trail of Tears”
One,” Armenian Death March”
The white one bears the name, “Jim Crow”
“Dresden,” is the German beast
“Appomattox”, another horse
Next to a black one, called “Babi Yar”
A Yak who answers to “My Lai”
Behind an ancient hound, “Pogrom”
“Nagasaki” is the reddish beast, before
Twin ogres, “Isabela” and “Ferdinand”
“Hutu-Tutsi” both on the side
And* to the right of one, “Nanking”
Wuka-wuka, and then wuka-wuka, ever on* it clacks.
To the smiling skull, atop the pole,
Above the center of the wheel
I screamed: “Please answer me!”
“When will it finally* stop?”
The faint reply was wuka-wuka, wuka-wuka
Leonard N. Shapiro, N.Y., (11/16/16)
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