apostrophe to the recently dead
in iraq.
no one held you
cheek to cheek in comforting arms.
you didn't wait for that poetic right time
when it's ok to let go,
your family reconciled to separation,
your absence,
their emptiness.
bring it on.
your after death comes after lies
lie after lie after lie after life.
let someone else's loved ones
die,
let someone else's loved ones fight for
freedom,
let someone else's lives disappear for
lies.
let someone else's children volunteer.
it's all right ma, the songster sang,
i'm only dying.
it's not all right.
not all right.
not.
©Michael Sedano
*Foto ©2005, the night we mourned our 2000th dead U.S. soldier and read names of dead civilians who got in our way. Now the counts grow from 4000 up. On the United States side. Uncounted dead, maimed, orphaned on the other side. They did not go gentle. Support our troops--bring them home.
QEPD raúlrsalinas. I shot this photo at the 1974 Flor Y Canto held at the University of Southern California. Next week I plan to have more of these historic images cleaned up and posted at the Flor Y Canto page at readraza.com. I'll include a photo of a fellow wearing a carpa that sounds just like this reminiscence Juan Felipe Herrera wrote, in his eulogy for salinas, "i sat in the center row, dressed in a tzotzil tunic i had brought back from chiapas in ‘70". Dang, raza, we were so young back then, que no?
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3 comments:
Michael, ese, this photo of raul and the others strike deeply for this Chicano. Seeing pictures of Ricardo Sanchez, especially, move my heart and mind. Mil gracias for these, carnal.
Un Vato C/S/R
Great post today, Michael. Your poem is quite moving; the photos excellent. Thanks.
Wow carnal, that Iraq poem was very touching. It reminded me of a WW1 storie by Dalton Trumbo, "Jhonny Got His Gun." In my oppinion writers like yourself should be touring high schools teaching your literature. Especially, during career day, where is mostly military recruiters taking advantage of the situations such as: economy, patriotism, and political apathy that deters the young students to pursue a higher education. Once again, I congratulate you on your poem that makes people like my-self proud to know that we [do] have very good writers that represent our vivid culture. Thank you.
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