this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.
image and poem below the fold
A mother reacts soon after realizing that her son is not among the newly freed detainees, in Baghdad’s Green Zone, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005. According to the Iraqi Justice Ministry 500 Iraqi detainees will be released from the multi- national troops prisons on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim religious holiday that concludes the Ramadan holy month of fasting.
(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Renee Amick holds up a photo of her son, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jason Hendrix, in the Santa Cruz, Calif., Superior Courtroom, Monday, Oct. 3, 2005. A judge in a bitter dispute between divorced parents over where to bury their son killed in Iraq sided with the soldier’s father Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005, saying he did not believe the mother’s tearful testimony. Army Staff Sgt. Jason Hendrix should remain buried in his father’s home state of Oklahoma, despite his mother’s claim that he wanted to be laid to rest in California, Superior Court Judge Robert B. Yonts Jr. ruled.
(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
LONELINESS
by Elmo Chattman, Jr.
Loneliness is my shadow
the reflection I see in the mirror
It is a pair of iron shoulder pads
cold as stone
A vulture that sits outside my cage
stalking my dying soul.
Loneliness is a woman with no hands
nor arms to caress me
no lips nor tongue to kiss me
or speak my name
A woman with no womb nor navel
no eyes to behold me
Loneliness is a woman who is dead
and does not exist.
Loneliness is a dog that pisses on the rug
Loneliness
is the itch I can’t scratch.
Loneliness is that big black hole
the heart of every prison
The enemy
I’ve lost my tolerance
for the bleeding hearts and good intentions
Until you have come to prison
you CAN NEVER KNOW
loneliness.
I could teach Webster’s a few things
about the meaning of loneliness
Rut I doubt that the world would understand
Here in prison
loneliness
is a way of life.
source: (scroll)
Beads of Wax was one of a series of chapbooks published by Month of Mondays Press, San Quentin State Prison.
Edited & designed by Elmo Chattman
Series editor, Judith TannenbaumThis series was a product of the Arts-In-Corrections Program of the California Department of Corections
All rights retained by the poet.
© 1987.
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view the pbs newshour silent honor roll (with thanks to jimstaro at booman.)
take a private moment to light one candle among many (with thanks to TXSharon)
support veterans for peace
support the Iraqi people
support the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC)
support CARE
support the victims of torture
remember the fallen
support Gold Star Families for Peace
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
witness every day
