I have a number of unpublished poems, essays, and thoughts regarding the war in Iraq that continues... and continues under American occupation. Following the United States invasion of Iraq, I've been putting together my works in a publication I call "I Can't Sleep and Neither Should You." Here's a poem in this book that I wrote when I was on research leave from my faculty position in the School of Social Work at Arizona State living in Sante Fe, New Mexico in 2003.
JUST WAR?
Whether
there can ever
be such a thing as
a “just war” remains
open to speculation,
debate, and the highest
levels of political and
moral interrogation/
Ever since the human
species could put together
the thoughts or words or
actions to prosecute war
on whatever or whoever
was an obstacle to their
desires or needs, we have
been embroiled in long,
bloody conflicts with one
another/ Despite the spiritual and philosophical rhetoric of religious and intellectual leaders arguing whether such a thing can exist the first-hand accounts of survivors of brutal dictators and democratic regimes teach us lessons about how not to do on to others as was
done onto them/Seamless
doomsday predictions
by ancient and new-age
prophets about spiritual
implosion that war brings,
our species continue to
find divinely-inspired
reasons to continue
murdering, maiming,
torturing, cheating,
pillage, and
manipulating
one another/
So, goes the upcoming U.S.-led war against the
Iraqi Peoples/ “A bunch of tribal peoples,” says NBC news anchor
Tom Brokaw on the David Letterman show/
I pray
for Iraq
michael yellow bird, 15 march 2003, 3:15 a.m. from I can’t sleep and neither should you
Whether
there can ever
be such a thing as
a “just war” remains
open to speculation,
debate, and the highest
levels of political and
moral interrogation/
Ever since the human
species could put together
the thoughts or words or
actions to prosecute war
on whatever or whoever
was an obstacle to their
desires or needs, we have
been embroiled in long,
bloody conflicts with one
another/ Despite the spiritual and philosophical rhetoric of religious and intellectual leaders arguing whether such a thing can exist the first-hand accounts of survivors of brutal dictators and democratic regimes teach us lessons about how not to do on to others as was
done onto them/Seamless
doomsday predictions
by ancient and new-age
prophets about spiritual
implosion that war brings,
our species continue to
find divinely-inspired
reasons to continue
murdering, maiming,
torturing, cheating,
pillage, and
manipulating
one another/
So, goes the upcoming U.S.-led war against the
Iraqi Peoples/ “A bunch of tribal peoples,” says NBC news anchor
Tom Brokaw on the David Letterman show/
I pray
for Iraq
michael yellow bird, 15 march 2003, 3:15 a.m. from I can’t sleep and neither should you
3 comments:
Welcome to Humboldt!
Welcome to Humboldt!
Hello Dr Yellow Bird, I was a social work student at ASU when you were on faculty there, and was active in anti war protests before the Iraq war started. That feels like a long time ago. I can't believe the US military is still there! Thank you for speaking out on this issue. I have a two year old boy now and worry about the future. I don't know what to do about it.
Good to see that you are doing well and you and Margi are teaching at the same school again. The students at Humboldt are very lucky!
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