Black Label Medicine Against Silence ≠ Peace, But Oppression
Author: D’Bara Arruda

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— Package Insert for Brazil in Suppository Form

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Dearest me, read the insert carefully:
• For exclusive rectal use, to unclog the mind
• Poem with traces of modern coronelismo
• Do not exceed one dose if you are
left-wing or a conservative right-winger
• Read on an empty ideological stomach

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Side effects:
May explode your ideology.
May make you hate your own team instead of
the rival supporters.
High risk of losing faith in churches
and following the true teachings of Christ —
or, in large doses, becoming agnostic.
Do not operate heavy machinery after reading
(it may cause you to question the system).

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Inspiration lacks not for hypocrisy,
just as habit makes the thief.
For the choice was never mine nor yours —
and you only defecate what you ate.

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See, they feed your brain with pre-packaged thought,
and the result is digestion that shapes your opinion.
— I don’t feel good with this dialogue
(BLARRGH)…
… here, take this news three times a day,
preferably before and after your soap opera,
to treat the indigestion of outrage.
— What is it good for?
— You’ll think less… Plim Plim!

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Don’t even think of analysing, right pastor?
— Brother, what does the Bible say?
Pass the collection plate to the tune of:
“He who gives with joy shall prosper!”

Yes, just seeing the pastor with a private jet
and a golden Rolex, you understand who prospers
at the divine betting table.
Amen!

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— So? In this pyramid of faith,
how much profit did you make?
“God will provide, brother.”
He hasn’t yet because the word-bearer
branded your forehead with the sinner’s mark:
“Desperate sucker, easy prey for exploitation.”
One day, brother, one day…

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Well, until that day comes,
for those who want it, there’s plenty of good stuff on offer.

Football? — Perfect!
There’s a match at six,
but at five, like good manipulated masses,
let’s go fight.

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Maybe kill a few rival supporters
before having the chance to shout racist slurs
from the bleachers.

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— How much that boosts ratings for your beloved club!
The team owners just say “thank you,”
and FIFA profits from the vile barbarity
of turning jerseys into police reports,
showing the true path of club enrichment.

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— Want more?

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Let’s mix it all and take a trip to Brasília,
where lobbyists rule the country with mastery
and loads of dollars and Faria Lima juice,
sweetened with gunpowder from the bullet caucus
and served with GMO corn bread.
— Someone tell them the feed is on the table
(but sound the horn first,
so the cattle learn when to eat).
And clean your hooves before entering the Planalto —
to leave no evidence.

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And in the streets, crowds:
“Walking and singing and following the lesson…”
(taking from Vandré with a new version)
“…we are the complacent, arms linked or not.”

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And in the barracks they teach us a new constitution.
— Back to you, Geraldo…
“…Walking and singing and following the song.”

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And now?
And in Sunday’s sermon, the same faith
that blesses the militia, curses the political opponent.
And says:
“Love one another,
obey the commandments of God,
and persevere faithfully in Christ’s doctrine.”

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Where to go?
— If the world’s gone mad, João.
Bible in one hand and finger guns in the other
in the name of God, Homeland and Family —
getting closer and closer to the absolutist silence
of the post-apocalyptic lie…

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("Silence is now law...
but this poem is the scream the law cannot silence")