“[I]n times of crisis it’s interesting that people don’t turn to the novel or say, ‘We should all go out to a movie,’ or ‘Ballet would help us.’ It’s always poetry. What we want to hear is a human voice speaking directly in our ear.”
Billy Collins, U.S. Poet Laureate (2001-2003) speaking to the New York Times, as quoted in The Dead Beat by Marilyn Johnson
this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
we honor courage in all its forms
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.
april is national poetry month
image and poem below the fold
An Iraqi man cries out as doctors treat him following an attack by insurgents near Baquba March 26, 2006. One person was killed and three wounded when insurgents opened fire on a Shi’ite family on a highway 5 km (3 miles) north of Baquba, police said. REUTERS/Helmiy al-Azawi
My Sin
by M. L. Liebler
If I know my angels,
I know what they would say
–Joe Henry
He came to me
In a whisky-blue dream
In midtown Manhattan.
He wasn’t angry anymore.
He seemed happy to find
Me again, my old self.
Picking up his ghost guitar,
He played me a new song.
He played it sweet and innocent.
As if he were the world’s only child,
His whole future ahead,
No pain hidden in that past.
In some undeserved way, I felt
As though he had forgiven me
For the hurtfulness of my words.
His kindness to me was more
Genuine than all of my love could
Ever have been toward him.
In my dream, I found myself running
Back and forth in search of forgiveness,
In search of something greater.
But each time I was returned
To wander out my sin in prayer–
The sleepless turmoil of my penance
Revealed and served.
New York, NY
– – –
put a meaningful magnet on your car or metal filing cabinet
read Ilona’s important new blog – PTSD Combat
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
