Three (anti)war poems
penned on the first
Ash Wednesday
of World War Three
1.
I am old enough to remember
two invasions of Iraq
1991 & 2003 under two different Bushes
to be a true peacenik in America
is for nobody to ever have your back
peaceniks
forever get
called a coward
a traitor
a sissy
a punk
so when I dunk on this topic
let me clear
this is not out of fear
I claim no moral position
not America number one
nor hippy with flowers in a gun
not making memes of president Zalenskyy
none of this is any fun
it’s only been a week but I have been floored
by liberals cheering for war
first we saw it on the cable news
commentators drooling like they drunk on booze
come on Biden what you gonna do
liberals cheering for war
maybe liberals cheering for war
never had the FBI come knocking on their door
don’t have neighbors phoning them death threats
for calling out local racists or January 6th attackers
or you know just regular Americans always bragging
about every kind of weapon they own
doomsday preppers
soldiers of fortune
trigger-happy ex-cops
for every man is
his own killing machine
am I the only one triggered by people
in this right-wing fever dream
I am just one sleepless woke hippy
trying to stay on the beam
of not drinking the cocktail of revenge
the way you post pictures of civilian soldiers
then tell me you are not just another
liberal cheering for war
liberals cheering for war
deny there were ever racists in Ukraine
okay then we can also deny that the
former President’s boy ever did cocaine
but really this poem has nothing to do with blame
yet rather questioning every aspect of this
ratcheted-up delirious war game
not cheering for war is also
not cheering for Putin
some still remember
better red than dead
or was it dead than red
re-runs of the Day After Tomorrow
dancing in your head
some of us remember this tape from the 1980s
nuclear bombs would send us all to Hades
but some of you thought the cold war had faded
until we woke up one February day
to learn about tanks & troops &
again those nukes
autocrats & heroes & kooks
high time I remember how to pray
2.
remember how to read multiple sources
not just re-post that old silly picture
of a shirtless dictator who likes to ride horses
not bragging that the one side of any conflict is
automatically right yet neither diminishing those
who hide in a basement shelter night after night
every human has blood that courses through her veins
every parent of soldiers dead remembers their names
listening to the protesters resisting arrest in the streets of Moscow
listening to a pacifist from Kyiv adding perspective on Democracy Now
mandatory conscription for every man
don’t worry somebody watching from home
will figure out a way to tell you this
was always part of God’s plan
understanding why some right-wingers
who were cheering for Russia are suddenly silent
scratching my head at the left-wingers
who are tongue-tied to call-out or condemn Russia
everything in life
is not a hot-take on Twitter
I know after Covid how much we like
to sit at our screens & fritter
But maybe get up for a walk
Call your mom
Plan a night out dancing
Even if you need to call a babysitter
don’t put words in my mouth I am not about
to “blame NATO” but if sensible
foreign-policy wonks with decades of study are saying that
expanding a military alliance in a time of peace has now
brought the entire planet to its atomic knees maybe
we should pause before posting that romantic screed
about a war for democracy itself
I know you’ve seen that in your feed
war-profiteers & weapons manufacturers
have something to do with how this thing
magically went from 12 to 30 look
we are talking about war it is always dirty
& if the cold war was really over
why were countries joining in
1999 or 2004 or 2009 or 2017
& I bet you couldn’t name them all
if it were on a quiz so
you better get on Google to start looking
everyone who left Russia is grateful
for that flight they were prescient in booking
see people rarely want to ask why we even have armies
missiles tanks warships military aircraft rockets bombs
say out loud the part about the profits for
Boeing Raytheon or Lockheed Martin
who wants to ask why we even have war
a product where patriarchy meets anxiety in the marketplace of greed
food & housing & clean air & fresh drinking water
even love & art & music these are what we need
why we really need countries
with all these borders
what kind of scarcity brain
leads to all these hoarders
technology used to travel
to distant planets
or murder absolutely everything even
if that is not how you planned it
don’t even get me started with
all the End Times branding
if there is an apocalypse fever
the churches they fanned it
3.
War is a special
booze for little
girls or boys
to learn how to get
high first with sticks
then plastic guns
then video games
war is supposedly
a selfless sacrifice to
give your
life meaning
like Jesus but better
so when the entire
globe is quickly
careening past the
climate change
point of no return
& it is clear the
billionaires never
really gave a shit
about ending poverty
or pollution
admit that war
is a kind of solution
a distraction of action
from all the other inaction
don’t take too much
from this poetic mess
I am just a morning
writer spitting this desperate
plea decidedly lost
from membership in
any faction
Thank you for sharing sharp poetic words about a soul-sickening time the whole world is caught up in.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Been sick of me pulling for the good guys by secretly hoping they have enough weapons to strike back.
ReplyDelete