Looking for _____, says the prompt at Poetic Asides. As usual, my Irish is up!
LOOKING FOR PEACE
Swords into ploughshares? Not anytime soon.
We’ve been at war for thousands of years.
Men have fought over women, over money,
marking territory like dogs, changing borders,
shouting orders that (_____) is to blame and
(_______) MUST be annihilated.
Special ops, men made of steel and guts –
many who live to tell the tale, broken and unsure.
Troopers exacted the only death toll at Attica.
Nixon said it was an acceptable loss.
Collateral damage: Arms, legs, burqas,
babies. Baskets full from market, now
bullet-hewn produce strewn on a rocky terrain.
“Meanwhile, back at the ranch,”
Skinheads field-dress a man whose only sin
was a wink at the wrong guy; he is strapped
to the bumper of a cracker truck with the
Confederate flag flapping in the breeze of
the ultimate joy ride – ice-cold beer and
today’s catch dead and mangled, trailing them,
bouncing in the tread marks.
A woman says the wrong thing (again)
and gets what she had coming; he talks to police
and she hides her face, mumbling “mistake” and “sorry.”
A shelter’s bell rings at 2 am:
A mom and two kids barefoot in Buffalo snow,
wrapped only in bedsheets. As they are clothed and
warmed by cocoa and reassurance, they tell of
the boyfriend confiscating clothes and shoes nightly
so they might not leave. Now they fear he is near.
In D.C., no matter who started it, the drones find
their next predator… surrounded by family members.
In return, a boy straps on the gear and becomes
one cell phone call away from the CNN crawl.
Everybody has nukes as long as the US says it’s OK.
Israel walls off Palestinians, we pay for the materials.
If we complain, we are called “anti-Semitic,”
even if we’re Jewish!
Mexican cartels are doing well and causing hell,
while the CIA protects Afghan poppy fields.
But we are made to worry only about people who hope
to clean toilets in America – the least of our worries.
God, Jehovah, Adonai, Allah, Creator
Give us peace, we pray in our churches and temples
We didn’t listen to Moses.
We didn’t listen to Jesus.
We ignore the Five Pillars of Islam.
We didn’t heed the Buddha or Gandhi.
We didn’t follow Dr. King past his death.
We only listen to TV…
Why don’t we listen to God?
(c) 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Sharp Little Pencil 
Regina Star
May I share this?
Sharp Little Pencil
Absolutely, and if you would be kind enough to credit me and include my blog address, that would be wonderful.
Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil https://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com
Thanks for asking, Regina, and give Jack a tummy rub for me! Love, Amy
Karl
Wow Amy – very powerful statements you’ve made. When will people realize that when one goes down, we all go down together?
Peace
Karl
Sharp Little Pencil
Or as Ben Franklin put it, ‘If we don’t all hang together, we will surely hang separately!’
Peace, Karl… will send a cc to your email as well, in case you don’t get on my blog often. I appreciate your feedback. Peace, Amy
pamela
Wow, Amy this knocked my socks offs!
Fantastic read. If only we would look for peace.
Pamela
Sharp Little Pencil
We start in our hearts. Then we think about what we’re feeling. Then we clear our heads, pick up the phone (or boot up email), and contact elected officials to say ENOUGH!
Then we think about electing a female president, just for shits and giggles. But not Sarah Palin!!!!! LOL
Peace, Amy
Mary
Amy, you really have spoken a lot of truths here. We just don’t listen to the right people sometime. As the old folk song goes: “When will we ever learn?”
http://inthecornerofmyeye.blogspot.com/2010/11/looking-for-answers.html
Sharp Little Pencil
Checked out your poem, Mary, and I agree with Elizabeth, sometimes it feels like we are treading water. But I’m a pretty good swimmer and when in doubt, I float until the waters calm… And Peter, Paul, and Mary are one of my all-time fave groups, even though I was raised on jazz. Guess it comes from having an old Leftie for a mom?
Will email this to you as well – couldn’t comment on your blog space, sorry! “Experiencing technical Blogger difficulties!” Amy
Sherry Blue Sky
Wow, Amy, this one says it all, in such a clear powerful way. I think you might even convince the right wing with this one:) Fantastic writing! A sharp little pencil indeed, and a sharp mind speaking the irrefutable truth.
Sharp Little Pencil
Oh, Sherry, would that it were true. I manage to put off people with poems as simple and loving as this one. Many folks do not want to be told, especially since 9-11, that there is room for anything other than retribution – in the name of God, no less! And that’s on both sides – the Christian fundamentalist view (not all, but too many), as well as the RADICAL Islamic view. I have friends from every facet, and my Islamic friends tell me there was no greater insult to Allah than 9/11.
Sherry Blue Sky
Amy, have you seen the movie My Name is Kahn? SO moving , I cried through the entire last half. A tragedy befalls his family during 9/11 but because of his religion and race Americans consider him a “terrorist” and he travels the states trying to convince people he is not. Fantastic film.
Sharp Little Pencil
Will Netflix it. In the meantime, my best friends in Buffalo are a Muslim couple. Man, the crap they took after 9-11. Somewhere I have a poem, and if I can find it, I’ll put it on the blog next time. About my confrontation with a redneck who blamed my girlfriend and her kids for blowing up the WTC.
uponthewingsofnight
I have a very simple phrase that I use from time to time: Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and colors. There were many truths in your poem, Amy. I guess some people can’t handle the truth. Brett
Sharp Little Pencil
The truth is something each view through their own lens – their experiences, their own self-image. I don’t care too much what others think of me. If I did, i wouldn’t be an activist! Thanks, Amy