I read the following poem on the eve of the 4th of July this past week at Bringing Back Kerouac, a poetry venue at Anna Bananas in Honolulu. Lately, I've been thinking of this theme-the Death of a Citizen. This theme has been on my mind since reading about Cindy Sheehan's recent departure from the movement so to speak. I've realized that I have written a poem for each anniversary of the Iraq war. I hope to stop writing these in the future.
4 years and 1 anniversary are enough for me
I’m here because of love and because
Love embraced my cousin and carried her to heaven
In the blast of an RPG
I’m here because she was a compassion personate who loved everyone
Even you, Mr. Bush
Even your greed cannot take away the glory of who Myla is
And the lessons she taught me
This may sound strange
But I confess after reading Eckhart Tolle and the Dalai Lama
I truly love you
I know this is coming from someone who is wearing this shirt but
I love you enough to tell you no more
Tell you we must stop
Love the world enough to know there should be no anti in my anti-war poem
As I struggle to turn around what you spit
Your Lies, betrayal, smoke and mirrors
The Doublespeak of greed propped as foreign policy
Your Occupation feigning as humanitarian aid
I struggle to turn around
What you tell the mothers, fathers, and the families
Who have paid the ultimate sacrifice
I struggle to turn around when you gave Auntie a check to go with her body,
Placed a flag on her casket
Held choke memorial services and say we will never forget
I struggle to turn around when you told us we’re proud and
You should be proud of
Your dead daughter who died serving our country
Even if it was for a pack of your lies
I love you enough to tell you
You cannot buy our silence
You will not buy our complicity
You want our loved one’s death
To mean something
Well, you better listen
I love you and the world enough to tell you,
Fuck you, stop telling me I’m not proud of my loved one
When I tell you that our country should not occupy
Should not lie
Should not kill and arm ourselves with nuclear technology
Should not embargo or send in more troops
I love you enough to tell you
Stop spreading your bases in too many places
I love you enough to tell you
Take back the flag you drape on the caskets
Take back your false honor
And the blind patriotism shoved down our grieving throats
We’ve already wept enough
I love you enough to tell you what I am proud of
I am proud of her regardless of the circumstances of her death
I am proud because she was someone who cared about the poor
Who worried about the Iraqi children and the world that they lived in
I am proud because she kept her honor and kept true to her word and went
I am proud because she wouldn’t have used her own death as a reason to oppress another human
I am proud because she knew of the conflict between holding the bible in one hand and a gun in the other
Mr. Bush the lesson from Myla runs deep
This comes from the love that will save this world from you when I say
Fuck you
Step back
Keep your pack of lies and dirty tricks
And listen when I say “enough already”
My words will never erase the anniversary my family will celebrate each Christmas
We cannot erase the anniversaries of other families who’ve lost someone
But I love you enough to tell you no more
We need to stop making these anniversaries.
