I was asked to read poetry today at an event with "Poets for Peace," specifically local poets Rev. Mary McAnally and Deborah Hunter. I hadn't written poetry seriously in years, so it was a bit of a challenge to come up with good stuff. Still, I think I managed it.
Here's what I wrote for and read at the event:
1. So I was asked
to read a poem about
peace
honestly I don't know
if I have it in me
or what possible insight
I could give
I'm no soldier
and I haven't lost anyone
My only connection
is my humanity
burying its head in the sand
because it can't believe
where these kidnappers in chief
have taken this country
strapping us all to a chair
in their dank basement
forcing us to watch them
smear our best intentions
with their own special brand of bullshit.
2. Mission Accomplished
A fool
whose misrule
misconstrued the miscreants
attacked the facts
erasing the shame
of unjust war
but still the rifle
in white gloved hand
stands at attention
and the tense handkerchief
trembles, soaked
in unnecessary grief
as the mute draped boxes
silently march
one by one
hurrah, hurrah
3. exhausted
tired of lies
tired of seeing
good people buy them
compromising principle
we think we're invincible
while the invisible truth looms like teeth
sharp, inevitable
tired of numbers
body counts discounted
by the apathetic demographic
and it seems distance of death matters
massacres at home shock us and awe us
but massacres over there
well, we can change the channel
tired of timetables
fables of benchmarks
we're all marked
our outrage redacted
with the black marker
of unfair
and unbalanced news
I'm tired
exhausted
because every day the lies become heavier
and America's back
can't hold the weight much longer
I'm tired.
