Amreeka - the way I saw it

5 am
O'Hare airport
Immigration check for Aliens (most of us)
the security guards shouting
at us in some strange language
we did not understand

recycling bins
so many of them we got confused
which one to put our cans
and which ones are for empty starbucks cups

people running on the road
keeping fit
or walking fast
purposefully
making
the rest of the world
feel useless
in the rat race

shopping malls
with too many choices
milk
lactose free
organic
flavoured
non fat

chinatown
ignoring all the Asian tourists
since they bargain too hard
87,000 options of coffee
all of them fair traded
and sure to keep you awake
in case of another terror attack

couples walking babies
mothers walking babies
double prams with twins
children everywhere
do they realize
they will end up like a third world country?

white parents with Chinese kids
on the bus the man beside me concentrating
on the Dhammapada
while I devoured Best American Comics 2005
is this what McLuhan meant when he talked about the global village?

chinese
blacks
mexicans
indians
working on the streets
the white people
nowhere to be seen
were they hiding in their offices
awaiting another 9/11?

back at the airport they wanted to
count the number of holes in my left sock
embarrass me
to give up the bomb
strapped to my toe