image: Stanley and Gaye Lapinski,center, the parents of Army Cpl. Stanley Lapinski, mourn over his casket during a military funeral for the native of Naples, Fla., at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., Thursday, June 30, 2005. Cpl. Lapinski died June 11, 2005, when a roadside bomb exploded next to his convoy in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, and European Tribune.
Image and poem below the fold
Ordinance on Arrival
by Naomi Lazard
Welcome to you
who have managed to get here.
It’s been a terrible trip;
you should be happy you have survived it.
Statistics prove that not many do.
You would like a bath, a hot meal,
a good night’s sleep. Some of you
need medical attention.
None of this is available.
These things have always been
in short supply; now
they are impossible to obtain.
This is not
a temporary situation.
Our condolences on your disappointment.
It is not our responsibility
everything you have heard about this place
is false. It is not our fault
you have been deceived,
ruined your health getting here.
For reasons beyond our control
there is no vehicle out.
– – –
support the Iraqi people
support the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC)
support CARE
support the victims of torture
support the fallen
support the troops
support the troops and the Iraqi people
read This is what John Kerry did today, the diary by lawnorder that prompted this series
read Riverbend’s Bagdhad Burning
read Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches
read Today in Iraq
read this soldier’s blog
witness every day
