Young Widow

A young widow sleeps
with her soldier's ghost.

With vows to keep,
she is engrossed

in her own sorrow

and morbid disbelief

No tomorrow.

No relief.

Bagpipes play

and rifles shoot:

in the ground he'll lay

and soon take root.

Folded flags,

solemn speeches,

old dog tags,

a preacher preaches

that with God

our solider rests.

"It's just a fraud,"

the widow attests.

"God and war:

it's all a lie.

The oaths, he swore

caused him to die.

For his nation,

he bled out.

Manipulation

is what you spout.

For your hypocrisy,

he lays cold.

Not democracy.

Black gold."

With a shudder,

she descends.

Her fallen lover

met his end.

Assured and defiant,

she will not hide

or stay quiet.

Too many died.

She has no fear.

She knows the coward.

Her path now clear.

Her voice empowered.

************************************************

"And if your God makes war then he's no God I know 'cause Christ would not send boys to die." AA Bondy American Hearts

"'Cause there are three wars going on and all the flags are still waving. Daniel's 20-year-old friends are now 30 and willing and serving. He's a Marine and he showed me." - Kevin Devine Ballgame

“I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defense and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest.” Siegfried Sasson (WWI soldier and poet) from his 'Statement' 

"What a senseless, absurd cycle of violence this was." Mazier Bahari Then They Came for Me

The Day the Sky Fell

The day the sky fell

we were all at the bar

and the air had a smell,

like a wet, stale cigar.

There were stories to tell

and someone played a guitar

and outside the sky fell

and we got drunk at the bar.

The day the sky fell

you were miles away

and I thought that was swell

in a mean kind of way.

To you, a farewell,

and in hell I hope you stay

since when the sky fell

you were so far away.

The day the sky fell

I held his hand tight.

I was under his spell,

and liked it quite right.

From my toes to my cells

his touch could excite,

so as the sky fell,

he held my hand tight.

The day the sky fell

there was calm and quiet

and all was well,

no cause to riot.

Humanity expelled,

expunged, and silenced.

The night the sky fell

there was nothing but quiet.

****************************************

 "Thank you for being with us on this Day Two of the federal government shut down and - surprise, surprise - we're all still here. The sky didn't fall and even if it had we wouldn't know because NASA is shut down too." - Stephen Colbert The Colbert Report (Wednesday, October 2, 2013)

"Oh, what a joy to be free." Kevin Devine All of Everything, Erased