VETERANS DAY 2008 - A POEM

MOTHER AND SON - FROM ONE WAR TO THE NEXT

The stories told in staring eyes,
monotoned during daylight, and
screamed through haunted darkness,
bespoke unimaginable horror.

The anguish inflicted on my generation
warned of a military madness
that feeds upon the newborn.
I bore fear along with my child

Even as my womb cradled and nurtured,
I knew one day they would come.
Drawn by youth, thirsting fresh blood,
they'd come for you those Vampires of War.

Joyful colors clothed your childhood.
Your favorite: purple.
Never the small-sized uniforms that foreshadow dark future.
Cammies aren't meant for kids.

No guns for my son!
No ominous plastic noise makers
pressed to imitate authoritarian threat!
So you pretended sticks into rifles.

Mother songs lullabied hope and peace
while soldiers who'd put down their weapons
and the millions in our streets,
ended the Tonkin-induced war.

Vietnam swept G.I. Joe from toy store shelves.
But the dolly boy resurrected to
trickle down into little boy hands
via Reagan's pipe dream presidency.

You grew while I taught you to value humanity,
to share, to love, to respect.
I showed you how to step into other existences
yet they lurked. Vulture-like. Watching. Waiting,

Ready to stalk when restless and unsure,
You lost your way in school.
Adventure! Money! Manhood! A mere GED away.
You turned your head, and your life.

The truth, with which I'd armed you, once targeted,
was swiftly and effectively neutralized.
You swallowed their bait. They set the hook
and reeled your from my arms.

Fourteen years on, the PTSD hid behind your unfocused stare.
It was your guarded monotone I heard during the day.
And you who faced the dark demons brought by sleepless terror, Alone.
We could not protect you there.

Then you challenged the Vampires of War
by speaking truth to their prey
and turned numerous boys from a war-torn path
your brother among those who walked away.

And now, You've survived the battle within.
Victorious, you win it still every day,
giving each of us who love you
the freedom to finally say...

Welcome Home Son, Welcome Home.

Love you, Mom
November, 2008
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I've been working on this poem since September. I began it after the Veterans For Peace Convention while we were visiting family in Michigan. It has taken me two months to complete after many rewrites. I was determined to finish it by Veterans Day because I am sure that it is a story oft repeated.

The story is true and is dedicated to my eldest son, a disabled veteran.

We must replace the Culture of War with a Culture of Peace.

What if they gave a war and nobody came?
KWW

A "Take Back America" Peace Sign - Our Family Project

I've posted the story of our Peace Sign in honor of Veteran's Day, November 11th, 2007, with a special nod to my father-in-law, who retired as a "Mustang" Lt. Commander after a thirty year career in the Navy, and my father, who survived a glider ride into WWII in Europe, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and suffered the after effects of combat for the rest of his life. Both of our beloved WWII veterans are no longer with us, but I would like to note that both of these honorable men firmly supported the anti-war movement. My father-in-law disdained Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq, and my father, after fighting the Nazis in Europe, would have been sickened by the rise of private armies like Blackwater Worldwide, in his own country. My husband and I are activists because we honor our fathers who continued throughout their lives to "support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic" by questioning the government and speaking their minds.

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Catfish and I started the summer with a very definite project in mind. Although the result looks as if it could be knocked out in a day or two there were many steps involved. Sandwiched in between the weekend Stop Blackwater encampment and rally in Potrero, and the beginning of San Diego's 2007 firestorms on Sunday, October 21st, our new Take Back America, red, white, and blue peace sign was finally completed on Sunday, October 14th

.

Some of you may recall that last Christmas season (2006) our eldest son, a disabled vet, not only put up our regular holiday lights, but built us a giant colorful, blinking peace sign as well. It was quite a surprise. When the holiday season ended, friends and family asked me if we were going to leave the peace sign up. It was, after all, the only peace sign for miles around. It seemed to me that its bright beautiful message was shinning through the dark night and the darkness that has engulfed our country since the reign of Bush and Cheney began. We decided to keep the peace sign lights burning - until this war is ended and we bring our troops home.


Above is a photo of our original peace sign. We kept it on for many months. It was late spring when we noticed that it was deteriorating. My son had stapled several stands of multi-colored Christmas lights on an old partial sheet of plywood that had been out in the weather and set the lights on a timer. The sheet of plywood was beginning to mildew and fall apart and a strand or two of lights had burned out. There was no way it was going to endure through years of perpetual war in the Middle East as envisioned by Cheney, Bush, and their neoconservative cabal. What to do but make a new one.

Catfish and I talked it over and planned. It was decided that the lights on this peace sign would be red, white, and blue as we are both sick of war loving, profit hungry conservatives waving the colors of democracy while committing war crimes and trashing the Constitution. It was to be a Take Back America Peace Sign. The background would be blue upon which a white peace sign would be painted so that it would stand out during the day.

Our youngest son and a friend with a truck went down to town to buy a sheet of plywood which was then cut in half. My daughter and I went after the primer, the paint, brushes, and a roller tray. The four ft. square of plywood was primed and then painted with three coats of outdoor blue enamel. Next, my husband armed with a ruler and a piece of string penciled the peace sign on, masked around it and painted it white. When the paint was dry it was time for lights.


We liberated the chasing lights we had ordered from an online company from their boxes. What an intimidating tangle of lights!


My protest partner, however, was not deterred by the snarled mass of lights. He quickly came up with a system, went to work, and remained at his peace post until the project was completed.


It had taken several months from the time we began planning a new peace sign to its' completion in mid October. We worked on it, as time allowed, at a relaxed and enjoyable pace.


Finally, one week before the firestorms, it was finished, moved into position, wired to the timer, and ready to go! Come on Sunday night....we wanted to see our peace lights!


The lights came on but it was still not dark enough.


It got darker.....


And darker......



Until - Here it is! Red, white, and blue for democracy, for the Constitution, for our America!

You should see it in action. The lights chase around in a circle but at different times. It's beautiful every night!
.
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NOTE: Tomorrow we are going to march in San Diego's Veterans Day parade with Veterans For Peace and will later attend SDVFP's Arlington West in Oceanside. Then we are going to stay at our favorite place at the beach for several days. I will write when we return.

What if they gave a war and nobody came?

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine....
.............Kitchen Window Woman................