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Poem

this is a true if near impossible contest
how can you write a poem about mourning
and honouring the ones deceased in a war
without it being somewhat political

you do not have to be a feminist
and as a man I hope to be one
to know that the personal is political
and the private is a very public sphere

making decisions in groups such as
celebrating Memorial Day for example
remembering My Lai and Buchenwald
can never be an individual solitary pursuit

a poppy on lapels and automobile bumpers
where have all the flowers gone indeed
grieving purple hearts not lost in amnesia
are statements which involve statesmanship 

gone wrong
missions failed
skeletons gathered
loved ones bereaved
ethics become immoral

for sure I do condemn all wars
and not the pawned veterans
artificial borders are frontiers of madness
and soldiers wrongly pay the ultimate price
for what insanity exactly for whose gain

a flag draped over a coffin appears to me to be
a euphemism and declaration of capitulation
to greed money power and humanity’s inherent bedevilments 
and in that sense I have a place for thinking of the dead

I wish to have compassion empathy consideration
not just for soldiers fallen in the course of seeming duty only
but also for civilians slayed by unfriendly fire and contempt
like others I have often claimed ‘never again’ in vain

on Memorial Day I chose to read war poets and philosophers of peace
pray reflect meditate and hope as I suck in the pain that wars are causing
and on the matter of writing an unpolitical poem on this very day
it is like fighting for peace with weapons or copulating for virginity

‘live by the sword and die by the sword’ is never double edged
instead quite clear cut and it takes immeasurable guts to refuse the call
a tribute of distinction allegiance to conscience strength and objection
and to the principle that pacifism involves never forgetting what matters most


notes to the reader: 

I spent 15 years in the Armed Forces and was discharged with honour and alive

I have a subtle feeling that I might not place in this contest
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