war on terror
its coming
through a hole in the air
we breathe its fiery breath
hear its dark-beating heart
coming at you and you
stalks every hourly news
terror is real
ask one blinded
by the black spot of fear
a culture of fear
but it’s not there
you can’t bomb the intangible
drones can’t destroy terror
yet can a war on terror be an act of terror
all we have is a voice
to say resist
violence does not work
if the shadow we chase
is caught
it will be our own
guantanamo bay
This is a new section of the poetry book A Call to Listen. The section is called The Shadows We Chase. It consists of three poems which are a little dated now, as the few years have passed but still very real. I am proud I wrote them at the time and those that read them in the writers groups and in the journals where they were published at the time reflected on the shadow we all carried close with us.
guantanamo bay
this is a poem not to be read aloud
for it speaks of solitary confinement
torture and words like water boarding
it speaks of men
now aliens of this planet
with no where to call home
and no legal system
to try them
these men
have shackles
wear orange overalls
live in barbed wire cages
off shore
this is all we know
we don’t hear their cries
we don’t even know names