this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
we honor courage in all its forms
in special honor today for a child in France
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.
image and poem below the fold
An unidentified man holds a candle during a solemn vigil for two German hostages in Leipzig February 2, 2006. The two engineers were abducted on January 24 outside their workplace in the Iraqi industrial town of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad. In a video dated January 29 and broadcast by Al Jazeera on Tuesday, the kidnappers set a 72-hour deadline for Germany to end its cooperation with Iraq and close its embassy in Baghdad.
REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz
On the Persistence of the Letter as a Form
by Paul Guest
Dear murderous world, dear gawking heart,
I never wrote back to you, not one word
wrenched itself free of my fog-draped mind
to dab in ink the day’s dull catalog
of ruin. Take back the ten-speed bike
which bent like a child’s cheap toy
beneath me. Accept as your own
the guitar that was smashed over my brother,
who writes now from jail in Savannah,
who I cannot begin to answer. Here
is the beloved pet who died at my feet
and there, outside my window,
is where my mother buried it in a coffin
meant for a newborn. Upon
my family, raw and vigilant, visit numbness.
Of numbness I know enough.
And to you I’ve now written too much,
dear cloud of thalidomide,
dear spoon trembling at the mouth,
dear marble-eyed doll never answering back.
– – –
put a meaningful magnet on your car or metal filing cabinet
read Ilona’s important diary at MLW – Returning Vet PTSD – One Soldier’s Story as well her comprehensive series on PTSD and Iraq War vets.
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 Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors – TAPS
support Gold Star Families for Peace
support the fallen
support the troops
support Iraq Veterans Against the War
support Military families Speak Out
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
