There’s going to come a day in the near future when anti-war protests will start up again. Even if I have to start them. In the meantime, just as a reminder of how “free” we were during the Bush years, a snapshot of a Buffalo city protest, “back in the day.”
ORANGE MESH (the Bushista years)
We are herded behind
the orange mesh fence
hastily erected by minions to protect
Dick Cheney from our opinions
Residents vs. the vice president
Local police, paid overtime (by our side) to ensure
there will be no crime, no ordinance breached
such as burning and looting and freedom of speech
We are cattle herded into our enclosure, our stall
Orange mesh strangling the voice of the people
encasing us, muffling our rage, this cage
“Why not trample it, stampede the Code Orange?” says I
“Because.” My friend points to
snipers on the roof of an old Buffalo landmark
Our turf is their turret
We have changed species
We are sheep bleating
shorn by orange nylon and rubber pylons
© 2008 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Sharp Little Pencil 
Sherry Blue Sky
Whoa! Powerful one. The snipers on the roof – chilling. Free speech indeed. My soul grows weary.
Sharp Little Pencil
And true to life. I saw them with my own eyes; so did my daughter, whom I took out of school “for a sociology lesson,” which the principal approved. She knew exactly what was going on and supported my educating my daughter about free speech and the right of peaceful assembly. Thanks, Sherry, and peace, Amy
leesis
Love it Amy.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Leesa. Sorry to dredge up the old angst, but it needs to be said, especially since our new President, whom I supported, has failed to come through on closing Gitmo and bringing our troops home. ‘Bout time to dust off the signs and just change the names, I guess… Peace, Amy
Tilly Bud
Another poem full of rage. You really didn’t like the last President, did you?
Sharp Little Pencil
You’re right on both counts, Tilly. Hey, rage has its place when kids are coming back in coffins for no earthly reason other than a son’s vengeful thoughts (even though he never served himself).
“Don’t hold back, Amy; tell us how you really feel!” LOL If we didn’t have room for well-expressed anger in poetry, we would not have had Bukowski, Ginsberg… or most of the Book of Psalms, which contains an awful lot of David railing at God… Peace, Amy
uponthewingsofnight
It is still a sad state of affairs that our “freedom of speech” is constantly being fenced in and corralled. As Ice-T once sang, Freedom of speech/Yeah, boy, just watch what you say.
Sharp Little Pencil
Especially depending on your location. Say, a black man in a mostly white crown. A woman in the company of mostly males. A gay man in a bar…
or a liberal at a conservative McDonald’s, which happened to me the other day!!