Hello, so after kicking around the idea of posting another of my poems on my blog here, it was
Luella who finally convinced me to do so, after she posted some positive praise of me on her own blog. What an unexpected and edifying thing to do! Thank you sincerely, Luella :) So, without further adieu...
Requiem for Peace
Peace wavers, a novelty
once so important, now a relic
of times long past.
We were heading to San Francisco
with flowers in our hair...
we were hitching to Yasgur's Farm...
but our voices were drown, garbled
by hash and acid and babies
born in free love. Free us,
again, save us from business suits
and SUVs and knocking down our fellow
man in order to climb that corporate ladder.
Save us from ourselves.
What was it we stood for?
We've become so desensitized to war
that no one seems to care any longer.
We buy our children their Wiis
and we attend the Home Owner's meetings
and all that we are affecting now is... nothing.
Our voice died. We didn't change anything.
We gave up and blended in.
Our cause became a movement
documented by Time Life Music infomercials
we watch late at night,
in our bathrobes, suburban comfort,
we sip wine but miss the wind in our long hair,
the beauty we once represented...
Haight Ashbury and Woodstock,
just places now, resting in memory's recesses...
just stories to tell the kids.
We wanted to change the world,
but the soldiers still aren't home.
9-11, yellow ribbons tied 'round trees,
mothers crying for sons who died
way before their time.
The patriots say it is right to fight for America,
but if we would only stand up and take notice
of what America does to other countries...
we might not then be so quick to defend her.
Who is wrong? Who is right?
This perpetual fence always separates...
War and peace. Right and wrong.
Oil, money, freedom, power...
What ever happened to us?
What ever happened to love?
Our love movement melted
into cute bumper stickers and
a historical special on VH1, and
we sat back and let it dissipate.
We kept smoking the weed but we lost the ideals.
Why is it that our peace songs
never brought about true change?
Maybe because we stopped singing them.
12 comments:
WHOA!!!
I see so much of myself in this requiem.
I also see that Cole's generation seems to be going backwards to that.
♥♥♥
Sue
Very lovely poem, Jen. I'd love to see more. :)
I like this poem.
very moving poem....
Wow - what a moving poem!
That's great. I didn't live in that era but my husband and I have talked about that same thing - comfort and complacency. Thanks for posting that.
Lisa
Boy howdy, but you hit the nail on the head with that one. I did live that era. For all the turmoil, I loved it. It was wonderful. Yet, far too many of my contemporaries seem to spend their days sending out endless recyclings of anti-Obama emails, the real crazy stuff, gobbling it up like it is The One True Gospel. They seem to have been assimilated by the same Far Right 'conservative' mindset that we saw then, with considerable justification I still believe, as being responsible for our involvement in *that* war; for the internal hatefulness perfectly illustrated by Selma, Alabama ... by so many other things that 'we' were going to change. Yes, this is an excellent poem, and it strikes right at the heart of the matter.
Wow! Jen this is so insightful. I love the way you present the disillusion and cynicism that has come with not being able to live out our highest ideals. How thankful I am they are met in Jesus Christ. The Bible has it right, we need a Savior!!
Jen, wow... very moving! Tahnk you for sharing!
WOW . . . .this is very powerful. Have you ever considered putting your poems together as a collection in a book? You definitely have the talent and the gift for writing :)
A lot of this reminds me of my husband's dad is was at Woodstock, and protesting in Mississippi. He unfortunately died in the 70's. He was not corporate at all, but very wild.
Jen beautifully said! You really brought up some very good points in your poem.
I feel the same way, and look around at what this world has turned into, and wonder if we can ever get it back. What a mess we've created, we've been programmed to be obedient little drones, whose thoughts are of 'consuming', getting more useless 'stuff' but at what cost.
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