Holocaust in the New Millennium
Tag Archives: War
Remembrance
With deep gratitude to all the men and women who have endured war that we might have peace. #LestWeForget, #CanadaRemembers, #RemembranceDay, #ArmisticeDay, #VeteransDay
PERSPECTIVE
PERSPECTIVE
In Israel this year
the number of Jews will reach six million
There are other Jews in other lands
but it is only here that you can stand
Put out your hands
palms up and softly cupped
Weigh each as equal
weigh each and say
“This many”
STILL HERE
STILL HERE
(Holocaust Remembrance Day 2012)
I was born while you were dying
my birthmark is a blue tattoo
For seventy years I’ve been trying
to remember and forget
There are museums and deniers
there are survivors of survivors
People are still writing poems
the damn thing won’t wash off
MEMORIAL DAY
MEMORIAL DAY
Today we honor
those who chose
if choose they did
to serve and die in uniform
For some cause or causes
made noble by
their dying
And by ennobling
perhaps persuade
Is the next day, or the next
for those who shared the hell
but did not dress so well
And their numbers
oh yes, the terrible
terrible numbers
But we best not
speak of numbers
for in death, one
is the only number
And if we cannot
speak of math
can we speak
of aftermath
Land mines in the ground
mass destruction
in slow motion
Land mines in the mind
a uniform heritage
for those who did
and did not wear
a uniform
A moment of silence now
for us all
WHAT ARE THOSE TRAINING BRAS TRAINING THEM FOR
WHAT ARE THOSE TRAINING BRAS TRAINING THEM FOR
It isn’t that women
didn’t have breasts
when I was young
And it isn’t
that I didn’t notice
without of course too much
appearing to notice
But what’s
with all this
in your face
lifting and pointing
All this pairamilitary
upping of the calibers
from 32’s to 38’s to 45’s
all the way to bazooka
From succor and delight
to ready for a fight
And is it just
some harmless plastic
or les explosifs plastique
Perhaps we need to let
the UN inspectors in
9-11 2007
9-11 2007
It is the anniversary of the attack
seems like they have one every year
Wreathes are laid, videos are released
spin doctors spin, dead in graves spin
Deaths in reaction dwarf deaths in the action
I mean in numbers, others decide on value
I am grateful when a friend sends me
a poem by Hafiz
GARDENING IN THE MINEFIELD
GARDENING IN THE MINEFIELD
An errant tap root
tapping a triggering device
can quickly juice a careless carrot
The force of cabbage growing
may result in coleslaw fireworks
And the blood of beets
hardly distinguishable
from that of small boys
with hoes
GONE IS GONE
GONE IS GONE
A just war, an unjust war, or just war
A midnight arm, flung
across an unmade bed
Half empty or half full
NEXT
NEXT
Cindy Sheehan has spent
enough time in a tent
It is time to let her rest
other mothers can be found
Last month a hundred or more
made it through the qualifying round