Hi Flavia. I must preface this by saying that I do support the troops. I really DID NOT want to go to war. It was a life passage that I didn't want to enter into again. I had friends who fought in Viet Nam and that was enough for me. You see, when I was 18 I met Lyndon Johnson and was too afraid to speak out. It was in downtown Detroit and he was coming out of the Book Cadillac Hotel. I was on my way to the bus stop after buying a pair of shoes. I saw a small group of people at the entrance of the hotel and went over to ask what was happening. A man said that Johnson was on his way out and did I want to meet him and shake his hand. I said, "sure." Since I'm tall also, he and I looked eye to eye. He would have been taller if he didn't have such bowlegs. His hands were huge and he had a big handshake that I could actually feel. I don't remember actually what I said besides "hi," but it really wasn't worth a damn. I had my chance to at least tell him to end the war, but didn't. I felt he wanted a way out though. I felt that then.
When the first soldier died in Iraq I cried and cried. I cried because the reality of a war that seemed to come so quickly without thoroughness (if there is such a word) was real. Some parent's child was dead. I vowed to write a poem about crying for the soldiers who are not just numbers. Here it is below:
I Cried For A Soldier Today
I cried for a soldier today.
. . . And it's not the first tear I've shed
For a soldier that's dead.
I feel anguish every time Bush sins
Since he refuses to pay the Cost
For every life lost
Because we are engaged
In a war that he waged.
I cried for a soldier today.
Unfortunately Bush wants to stay the course.
The “course,” is another class I think
He's flunking.
Who are the course instructors?
There's Rumsfeld (see no evil),
Cheney (hear no evil)
And Rice (speak no evil).
I cried for a soldier today.
I wept for the loss of a life
Of a soldier who has children
Or a husband or wife
So I cry like a mother, father, and lover
Or a sister or brother
Any lover of man and womankind
I cry, I whine . . .
I cried for a soldier today.
We've stepped too far
Over that line in the sand
That his daddy drew.
False profits tell us we're winning.
While grinning they announce,
“It's war, stupid!
That's why people die.”
But can't I ask why?
Why did we wage war on a lie?
Why didn't we send enough soldiers
To win the peace?
Why didn't we have a plan?
Mr. Bush, did you cry for a soldier today? Yesterday?
ANY DAY?
How can you sleep and not weep?
What promises do you keep
While mothers and fathers
Cry for a soldier everyday?
And everyone who loves a soldier cries
Everyday.
We absolutely still don't know why.
George W, if you never tell
Us anything else
At least tell us . . .
When the mission will really be accomplished.
Tell us . . .
So, we can dry our eyes.
Did you cry for a soldier today?
©Brenda Perryman, 2005