War

Our dead do not demand it of us
nor do our yet unborn, this war.
They have their own concerns.
There is no science or sacrifice
can bring them back
or make them sooner come.

No alchemy can sanctify,
make oil more sacred than
their blood or ours,
not hold the profits of a few
more urgent than the lives of all.

No magick that can right old wrongs
nor put aside the price
that war demands.

No rhetoric nor demagoguery
however much repeated,
shouted loud,
will turn a false cause true.

Sand will not bloom,
water spent not flow again
from precious springs
this war will cause to cease.

Earth, stars and sun
hold our lives and theirs,
their dead and ours,
our not yet born and theirs
all in the same esteem,

find no difference
between them and us.

(by Dale Harris)

Poets Against the War --
The Bush administration's barrage of bombs and bullets in Iraq is mirrored by its barrage of misinformation and doublespeak, a language the media too willingly repeats. An assassination attempt is termed a "target of opportunity"; murder of civilians is "collateral damage"; invasion is "liberation."

Now more than ever, the world needs to hear the voices of poets. Poets Against the War is calling for May 1, 2003, to be an International Day of Poetry Against the War. ----more at link>