| 1) After the Dawn of War II | | | | Me, he said, with a tear on his cheek: |
| | | | |
| [Iraqi 2006]I looked over the shoulder of | | | | “I wanted to color the soldier’s |
| the world | | | | feet!” |
| | | | |
| Through its crawling fog | | | | I looked and there it read: |
| | | | ‘Peace’ |
| And heard the cold cries | | | | |
| | | | Already colored-in, with gray: |
| Seen the stir in the eyes | | | | |
| | | | Said the boy still looking at me: |
| Heard the trumpets of war | | | | |
| | | | “That’s the way it |
| Breaking the silence of dawn | | | | came.”#1371 6/16/06Here is an unusual |
| | | | war poem Dennis has written today, on the |
| (Heard somebody say): | | | | Iraqi war. He said after following it for |
| | | | four years, “…it is getting old; |
| “Soldiers will die today | | | | yet it sells papers doesn’t it?” |
| | | | He was for |
| For Iraqi Liberty— | | | | |
| | | | the war when it was a war, so he told me, |
| That thou endure.”#1371 6/16/20063) | | | | but now it is not, it is more a police |
| War Flag III | | | | action, he explains to me, and feels perhaps |
| | | | we have overstayed our welcome. “And |
| (Post Iraqi)Lone are the days and short | | | | what are the motivating factors now?” |
| | | | he asks. He adds, “When we get into |
| Before the next cruel war— | | | | questioning the motives, after a war, when |
| | | | they are not clear, it is perhaps time to |
| What spirit then shall fill a sweet despair? | | | | leave…” Dennis being a Vietnam |
| | | | Veteran knows a little bit about how it all |
| To wave the flag of war…and say: | | | | works; and here in this poem, he paints his |
| | | | picture of war, the Iraqi war, and how he |
| “I’m here and Ready!#1372 6/16 | | | | sees the colors of war through color crayons |
| 20063) The Color of War I | | | | of a little boy. Rosa PenalozaCommentary on |
| | | | War: I’m fifty-eight years old, and I |
| [Iraqi: war poem]I saw the other day— | | | | can’t remember a time when the United |
| | | | States was not at war, preparing for another |
| A little boy coloring away | | | | war, or just getting over a war (not to |
| | | | include WWI and WWII); thus, we’ve had |
| (With crayons) in a sketch book; | | | | a busy half-century. I was but three years |
| | | | old when the Korean War broke out, in l950, |
| With every colored pencil | | | | and in 1953, when it was tranquilized. Then |
| | | | again in 1964, my friends went to Vietnam, |
| Under the rainbow— | | | | and I in 1971, that war ended in 1975, an |
| | | | eleven year war. I thought we’d have |
| And then some…And when I took a second | | | | peace but we got a few more wars in-between |
| look | | | | (we always do); such as, in the 80s Haiti |
| | | | involvement, Granada, and some secret Central |
| I thought of the Iraqi war | | | | American things; nothing real big. And then |
| | | | we got Bosnia in the 90s, and a few other |
| (American and Allied soldiers) | | | | little East Europe wars to attend to (mixed |
| | | | with these wars we had Granada and a few |
| And all the colors it stood for:Red was for | | | | African uprisings); always helping out Europe |
| the blood they’ve shed; | | | | with their little squats, which they feel are |
| | | | important, and when it comes to American made |
| Gray, for depression of their families | | | | squats, of course they are less important to |
| | | | them.Also in the 90s we got Iraqi I, and in |
| Far away… | | | | the now 21st Century, we’ve had to |
| | | | contend with Afghanistan and Iraqi II. We |
| Blue was for sad skies; | | | | are a country full of warlords to be sure. |
| | | | What will be next, between 2007 and 2016, as |
| Black and white, for death and life; | | | | I had predicted in 1984, we will be in line |
| | | | with the onset of WWIII. We have been |
| Green, for the spoils we’ve not seen; | | | | fighting it since l950, with Korea, now it is |
| | | | set in motion: the war on terror is part of |
| Brown, for the dray and dusty nights | | | | it of course. When I say set in motion, I |
| | | | mean, things are going to fly. We already got |
| All the solders had to fight—on | | | | Iran and Korea on the hot list; Syria is |
| | | | bordering it; and we are going to have to |
| Foreign ground.I pleaded, for the boy to | | | | contend with the Arabs sneaking through South |
| stop, | | | | America to North America and lighting up a |
| | | | path once they got on solid ground. Russia |
| Surprised, he looked up at me— | | | | and China are becoming economies with |
| | | | highbrow ideas; we may have ruled the 90s, |
| With his deep blue eyes, haunting | | | | but I fear, things will change, as often they |
| | | | do. |