Iraq War Grief Daily Witness (photo) Day 307

“[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, My Left Wing, and TexasKos.

image and poem below the fold

The body of a bus driver lays on the ground in western Baghdad, Monday, May 8, 2006. Suspected insurgents stopped a bus carrying Higher Education Ministry employees to work, fatally shooting the driver and wounding a policemen who was working on the bus as a guard.
(AP Photo/Asaad Muhsin)

Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portion
by William Cowper

Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portion,
Scarce can endure delay of execution,
Wait, with impatient readiness, to seize my
Soul in a moment.

Damned below Judas: more abhorred than he was,
Who for a few pence sold his holy Master.
Twice betrayed Jesus me, this last delinquent,
Deems the profanest.

Man disavows, and Deity disowns me:
Hell might afford my miseries a shelter;
Therefore hell keeps her ever hungry mouths all
Bolted against me.

Hard lot! encompassed with a thousand dangers;
Weary, faint, trembling with a thousand terrors;
I’m called, if vanquished, to receive a sentence
Worse than Abiram’s.

Him the vindictive rod of angry justice
Sent quick and howling to the center headlong;
I, fed with judgment, in a fleshly tomb, am
Buried above ground.
– – –
Join CIVIC’s “I Care” photo campaign

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

11 Comments

RubDMC on May 9, 2006 at 12:46 pm

Click on the candle to copy the image into your own comment (you can leave it on my server), and/or rate this one – not for mojo, but to leave a small mark after taking this moment.

” I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.”
from Dirge Without Music
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

dada on May 9, 2006 at 12:49 pm

Peace

shermanesqe on May 9, 2006 at 12:58 pm

Damnit Janet on May 9, 2006 at 1:04 pm

As the photo was downloading I was braced that it was going to be a school bus… and sadly my soul wasn’t shocked. I was just expecting it to be a school bus. More dead children. More blood of babies.

Let’s yank the warpigs out of the White House and demand they be tried. Fuck impeachment, fuck elections… let’s demand an end and justice for the victims.

Man Eegee on May 9, 2006 at 1:11 pm

The soul turns black with the scourge of death. Murder is thy master. The path you walk will destroy us all.

I am hitting my wall today…I wish I could scream those words at BusHitler.

Damnit Janet on May 9, 2006 at 1:18 pm

Hitting the wall… that is perfect expression of what it feels like sometimes. It’s like the final yards in a long run. But please know that you aren’t running alone. We’re all there chugging along with you, just as tired, lungs burning… and those who can’t are on the side lines supporting us and trying to protect us from harm.

ask on May 9, 2006 at 1:33 pm

Iraq War Is Drawing Less Support Than Vietnam Did at Same Stage

cotterperson on May 9, 2006 at 4:39 pm

Impeach NOW.

alohaleezy on May 9, 2006 at 4:49 pm

Day #1110 since Bush declared “Mission Accomplished”

Impeach the Bastard NOW!

supersoling on May 9, 2006 at 6:03 pm

by Czeslaw Milosz

You whom I could not save
Listen to me.
Try to understand this simple speech as I would be ashamed of another.
I swear, there is in me no wizardry of words.
I speak to you with silence like a cloud or a tree.

What strengthened me, for you was lethal.
You mixed up farewell to an epoch with the beginning of a new one,
Inspiration of hatred with lyrical beauty,
Blind force with accomplished shape.

Here is the valley of shallow Polish rivers. And an immense bridge
Going into white fog. Here is a broken city,
And the wind throws the screams of gulls on your grave
When I am talking with you.

What is poetry which does not save
Nations or people?
A connivance with official lies,
A song of drunkards whose throats will be cut in a moment,
Readings for sophomore girls.
That I wanted good poetry without knowing it,
That I discovered, late, its salutary aim,
In this and only this I find salvation.

They used to pour millet on graves or poppy seeds
To feed the dead who would come disguised as birds.
I put this book here for you, who once lived
So that you should visit us no more.

jimstaro on May 9, 2006 at 7:41 pm

Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For The Children – Innocence Lost!

Upset vet gives back his medals
By Michael Stetz
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 8, 2006

And now what?
He had protested. He had become president of the San Diego chapter of Veterans For Peace.
He had helped put up thousands of white crosses around San Diego County to mark the dead in a solemn display called “Arlington West.”
And still . . . .

And Sad News Forwarded From The VFP Group Board:

Sad News: Bud Deraps’ Grandson
From: vfpch61@yahoogroups.com

Dear Chapter Members,

It is with deep sadness that I relay the following:

=
= from Bud Deraps
Dear Friends, My youngest grandson, Leon was killed by a roadside bomb in Falugia yesterday. In total sadness.. Bud =
=

Bud has been a tireless worker for peace for many years and a member of
VFP since the early 90’s. I know this must be devastating news for him
and for the rest of the family.

Bud’s address is:

Bud Deraps
6605 Clayton Ave #203
St. Louis, MO 63139

Sincerely,
Chuc

Peace is possible!

Charles T. Smith
1524 Eastmont Place
University City, MO 63130

RubDMC on May 9, 2006 at 12:46 pm

Click on the candle to copy the image into your own comment (you can leave it on my server), and/or rate this one – not for mojo, but to leave a small mark after taking this moment.

” I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.”
from Dirge Without Music
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
- dada on May 9, 2006 at 12:49 pm
  
  Peace
shermanesqe on May 9, 2006 at 12:58 pm
Damnit Janet on May 9, 2006 at 1:04 pm

As the photo was downloading I was braced that it was going to be a school bus… and sadly my soul wasn’t shocked. I was just expecting it to be a school bus. More dead children. More blood of babies.

Let’s yank the warpigs out of the White House and demand they be tried. Fuck impeachment, fuck elections… let’s demand an end and justice for the victims.
Man Eegee on May 9, 2006 at 1:11 pm

The soul turns black with the scourge of death. Murder is thy master. The path you walk will destroy us all.

I am hitting my wall today…I wish I could scream those words at BusHitler.
- Damnit Janet on May 9, 2006 at 1:18 pm
  
  Hitting the wall… that is perfect expression of what it feels like sometimes. It’s like the final yards in a long run. But please know that you aren’t running alone. We’re all there chugging along with you, just as tired, lungs burning… and those who can’t are on the side lines supporting us and trying to protect us from harm.
ask on May 9, 2006 at 1:33 pm

Iraq War Is Drawing Less Support Than Vietnam Did at Same Stage
cotterperson on May 9, 2006 at 4:39 pm

Impeach NOW.
alohaleezy on May 9, 2006 at 4:49 pm

Day #1110 since Bush declared “Mission Accomplished”

Impeach the Bastard NOW!
supersoling on May 9, 2006 at 6:03 pm

by Czeslaw Milosz

You whom I could not save
Listen to me.
Try to understand this simple speech as I would be ashamed of another.
I swear, there is in me no wizardry of words.
I speak to you with silence like a cloud or a tree.

What strengthened me, for you was lethal.
You mixed up farewell to an epoch with the beginning of a new one,
Inspiration of hatred with lyrical beauty,
Blind force with accomplished shape.

Here is the valley of shallow Polish rivers. And an immense bridge
Going into white fog. Here is a broken city,
And the wind throws the screams of gulls on your grave
When I am talking with you.

What is poetry which does not save
Nations or people?
A connivance with official lies,
A song of drunkards whose throats will be cut in a moment,
Readings for sophomore girls.
That I wanted good poetry without knowing it,
That I discovered, late, its salutary aim,
In this and only this I find salvation.

They used to pour millet on graves or poppy seeds
To feed the dead who would come disguised as birds.
I put this book here for you, who once lived
So that you should visit us no more.
jimstaro on May 9, 2006 at 7:41 pm

Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For The Children – Innocence Lost!

Upset vet gives back his medals
By Michael Stetz
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 8, 2006

And now what?
He had protested. He had become president of the San Diego chapter of Veterans For Peace.
He had helped put up thousands of white crosses around San Diego County to mark the dead in a solemn display called “Arlington West.”
And still . . . .

And Sad News Forwarded From The VFP Group Board:

Sad News: Bud Deraps’ Grandson
From: vfpch61@yahoogroups.com

Dear Chapter Members,

It is with deep sadness that I relay the following:

=
= from Bud Deraps
Dear Friends, My youngest grandson, Leon was killed by a roadside bomb in Falugia yesterday. In total sadness.. Bud =
=

Bud has been a tireless worker for peace for many years and a member of
VFP since the early 90’s. I know this must be devastating news for him
and for the rest of the family.

Bud’s address is:

Bud Deraps
6605 Clayton Ave #203
St. Louis, MO 63139

Sincerely,
Chuc

Peace is possible!

Charles T. Smith
1524 Eastmont Place
University City, MO 63130

Iraq War Grief Daily Witness (photo) Day 307

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RubDMC

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