The horror came
As my mom took her refuge
In not speaking my name;
Her marked breath was too much to bear,
To feel me plunging behind her teeth
As her breath pushed forth
And the truth immersed in her blood.
The lie was much easier…
(Fighting, dying, for freedom and country,
Not oil and empire and the gut of want.)
Slippery greed is not enough cause to die;
Betrayed in our clay of patriotism
And liberty and pliant expectation
Hanging like a ripe apple,
Within sight, but beyond our reach.
All people are capable of greed,
All people are capable of hate,
All people are capable of love,
But death is the mallet to hope
And love, birth’s soft petal…
Copyright © 2006 mrp
Inspired by One Veterans Voice
