gaza lament

if the palestinians and the israelis
had been reading each other poetry all these years
they'd be in love by now


i can't hear of all this war
all this unneccessary
of people so sick from fear
old fears still diseasing
new fears louder than thunder
(nothing scarier than scar tissue
ripped into new flesh)


child eyes, living and dead, fixed on us
demand a different answer

i can't bear the thought of children
terrified by terrified men
bombing down their terrible fear on cities
cities filled with their sisters
filled with their brothers
cities filled with themselves
if they only could see

maybe someday their grandchildren
won't speak to them for shame
maybe someday they'll be as lonely
as old germans are now



mary oishi



I can't help but wonder how this all would have turned out differently if, after being hunted like prey in the 20th Century, we had offered them healing and comfort instead of fighter planes and bombs. World War II still stalks the world because it still rages in the hearts of wounded survivors and their decendants. It is far from over. Isn't it about time for it to be? I pray for healing so the cycle of pain and brutality and more pain and more brutality can stop. The first gas chambers and the first nuclear holocaust and the first genocide of civilians using conventional weapons happened more than 60 years ago and we haven't stopped warring since. Instead of being horrified by the murderous orgies of 20th (and now 21st) Century warfare, we continue to justify, even glorify them. We need to check into a collective psych ward for this madness. It is high time we recover from World War II and get truly serious about peace on Earth. High time.