My Sons and Daughters are Dying

"I've been sitting here for 15 minutes unable to find the right words to start this entry in regards to yesterday's event. Loud silence. That is what I have chosen to describe the emotional noose that has been forced around my neck by the powers that be. Monday I walked with students, parents, concerned and frustrated people who wanted to bring home the soliders. As they walked in unity holding the faces of those that died in this war, I found the frustration was too much too bear."

it is not i who wanted the prayers of mine to usher home the dead

so i stopped praying
thinking that it would save the lives of those sent in the name of another man's pocket
but now my soul is faded with red stains
the white and blue were never mine to claim
they belong to angels and mary
i question if every time i stood in my 5th grade class to recite the pledge
another solider would lose his life
now we tie their faces to strings
light candles
hold roses
and stand as the names are read
we/ve been here before
i saw a picture that had fallen off the wall in an airport
a snapshot of a black granite tombstone
the wall was protesting
this i know to be true
their names will be added to walls for tourists to see
for field trips scheduled for
for mothers to weep
for veterans to salute
and we will pretend to remember

mama a.free.ka copyright 2005