In my last Poery Corner addition, I posted an original poem I wrote, expressing what I would tell a doctor should he have the gall to ask me whether I would let him circumcise one of my sons. I wrote a series of poems and song parodies for a contest that centered around male infant circumcision, which encouraged original songs, poems and parodies of other works.
This is my 8th and final addition to Poetry Corner (that is unless I get inspired to write more). It is a parody of a song called "Clandestino" by an artist named Manu Chao.
This song is sung from the standpoint of an illegal immigrant who moves back and forth over the border, hiding, changing his name, and moving quickly to avoid the law. (Original lyrics and translation found at the bottom of this post.
When I first heard the song, it sounded like the man was being accused over and over again. The hook of the song repeats the word "Clandestino" over and over again. I felt sorry for the character in the song, for his only "crime" was trying to earn a living most people who are immigrating "illegally" have no other recourse than to risk their lives.
I wanted to write a poem or parody of a song that reflected a similar plight; the innosence of young boys. In most cases, baby boys are born healthy, and their only "illness" from the standpoint of circumcising doctors and/or a circumcising culture is having a foreskin; anatomy that all boys have at birth.
The repitition in the hook of this song, the accusatory tone and feel of it, made me reimagine it as a condemnation of circumcision and doctors who perform it. I wanted to write parody lyrics to this song, especially taking advantage of the harsh, relentless accusation found in the hook, but something was missing; the song told the story of a man, and I wanted my parody to tell a story also.
I found my inspiration in the story of a boy who was circumcised against his mother's wishes.
Not too long ago, in 2010, the story of a boy in the state of Florida who was circumcised to his mother's dismay, made headlines. The boy was in the NICU because of birth-related complications, and doctors circumcised him while the mother was away.
This wouldn't have been the first case. In another case, courts let the doctor off the hook without paying any damages because it would "open the courthouse door to every kid who's been circumcised," and besides, "no evidence was presented to indicate being circumcised would prevent the youth from having a happy and productive life."
As if resilience from abuse were even relevant.
First off, the reasoning that "it would open the courthouse door" to others who have been wronged in the same way is a logically fallacious reason to dismiss an offense. (See Slippery Slope.) For this reason, courts could dismiss any other case. Imagine courts letting bank robbers and shop lifters off the hook because "it would open the courthouse door to every bank or establishment who has been robbed."
Having "a happy and productive life" is no justification for wrong doing. With the proper counseling, victims of rape and child abuse grow up to have happy and fulfilling lives, but this does not excuse the actions of the perpetrator.
No amount of counseling is going to give this child his normal intact organs back.
He's going to have to live with permanently marred organs for the rest of his life, and his parents are going to have to live with the fact that a doctor abused them and their child, and there is legally nothing that they could do about it.
Our society is ready to downplay and dismiss the forced genital cutting of males, even when doctors circumcise a child against his parents' wishes, and this is frustrating as an activist for basic human rights.
I wanted to write a poem/song parody which tells the story of children who fall victims of knife-happy doctors, and Manu Chao's "Clandestino" presented what I saw as an opportunity to both tell the story of boys like these, and to accuse circumcising doctors and their accomplices harshly.
To do this, I must reimagine the song to have two points of view.
In the original song, the teller of the story and the subject of accusation is one and the same; the "Clandestine" immigrant.
However, in my parody, while the story is about boys who are forcibly circumcised, I use the hook to accuse the doctor perpetrators, and expose the words "circumcision" and "circumcisers" for the euphemisms that they are. I am the judge, and in my parody, I do what the judges in these cases should be doing; condemning circumcising doctors for the charlatans they are.
Without further ado, "Mutilation."
Mutilation
Silent goes my screaming
Silent goes my struggle
Punished for the error
Of being born a boy
Fastened to a cutting board
I await behind closed doors
For docs to have their pleasure
I'm nothing but a toy
I was born a c-section
Barely struggling to survive
The doctors couldn't wait
To have me promptly circumcised
My mom tried very hard
To protect me from the blade
But when her back was turned
Doctors came and had their way
Silent goes my screaming
Silent goes my struggle
Punished for the error
Of being born a boy
Fastened to a cutting board
I await behind closed doors
For docs to have their pleasure
I'm but a doctor's joy
Circumcision, Mutilation!
Circumcisers, Mutilators!
Circum-studies, pseudo-science!
Molestation, child rape!
Silent go the botches
Silent go the murders
These men are in the business
Of mutilating boys
Burning with sadistic lust
They violate parental trust
They offer needless cutting
And call it "parent choice"
Circumcision, mutilation!
Circumcisers, mutilators!
Snake oil salesmen, baby butchers!
Opportunist charlatans!
Original Lyrics in Spanish:
Clandestino
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Para burlar la ley
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
Por no llevar papel
Pa' una ciudad del norte
Yo me fui a trabajar
Mi vida la dejé
Entre Ceuta y Gibraltar
Soy una raya en el mar
Fantasma en la ciudad
Mi vida va prohibida
Dice la autoridad
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Por no llevar papel
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
Yo soy el quiebra ley
Mano Negra, ¡Clandestina!
Peruano, ¡Clandestino!
Africano, ¡Clandestino!
Marijuana, ¡Ilegal!
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Para burlar la ley
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
por no llevar papel
Argelino, ¡Clandestino!
Nigeriano, ¡Clandestino!
Boliviano, ¡Clandestino!
Mano negra, ¡Ilegal!
Clandestino
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Para burlar la ley
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
Por no llevar papel
Pa' una ciudad del norte
Yo me fui a trabajar
Mi vida la dejé
Entre Ceuta y Gibraltar
Soy una raya en el mar
Fantasma en la ciudad
Mi vida va prohibida
Dice la autoridad
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Por no llevar papel
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
Yo soy el quiebra ley
Mano Negra clandestina
Peruano clandestino
Africano clandestino
Marijuana ilegal
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Para burlar la ley
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
por no llevar papel
Argelino, clandestino
Nigeriano clandestino
Boliviano clandestino
mano negra illegal
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Para burlar la ley
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
Por no llevar papel
Pa' una ciudad del norte
Yo me fui a trabajar
Mi vida la dejé
Entre Ceuta y Gibraltar
Soy una raya en el mar
Fantasma en la ciudad
Mi vida va prohibida
Dice la autoridad
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Por no llevar papel
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
Yo soy el quiebra ley
Mano Negra clandestina
Peruano clandestino
Africano clandestino
Marijuana ilegal
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Para burlar la ley
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
por no llevar papel
Argelino, clandestino
Nigeriano clandestino
Boliviano clandestino
mano negra illegal
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Para burlar la ley
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
Por no llevar papel
Pa' una ciudad del norte
Yo me fui a trabajar
Mi vida la dejé
Entre Ceuta y Gibraltar
Soy una raya en el mar
Fantasma en la ciudad
Mi vida va prohibida
Dice la autoridad
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Por no llevar papel
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
Yo soy el quiebra ley
Mano Negra clandestina
Peruano clandestino
Africano clandestino
Marijuana ilegal
Solo voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Para burlar la ley
Perdido en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen el clandestino
por no llevar papel
Argelino, clandestino
Nigeriano clandestino
Boliviano clandestino
mano negra illegal
Original Lyrics translation:
Clandestine One
Alone go I with my shame
Alone goes my condemnation
To run is my destiny
To evade the law
Lost in the heart
Of the great Babylon
They call me "The Clandestine One"
For not having papers
To a city in the north
I went to find a job
I left behind my life
Between Ceuta and Gibraltar
I'm a line in the sea
A ghost in the city
My life is forbidden
So say the authorities
Alone go I with my shame
Alone goes my condemnation
To run is my destiny
To evade the law
Lost in the heart
Of the great Babylon
They call me "The Clandestine One"
I am the law breaker
"Mano Negra*," Clandestine One!
Peruvian, Clandestine One
African, Clandestine One
Marijuana, Illegal!
Alone go I with shame
Alone goes my condemnation
To run is my destiny
To evade the law
Lost in the heart
Of the great Babylon
They call me "The Clandestine One"
For not having papers
Algerian, Clandestine One!
Nigerian, Clandestine One!
Bolivian, Clandestine One!
"Mano Negra*," Illegal!
*"Mano Negra" is the name of a French music group active from 1987 to 1995 and fronted by Manu Chao.
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