Oh! my father, by Kumar Srinivasan

 

I looked up to the sky one night,

I saw a star burning very bright,

What or who could this be, or could it be....

yes oh my father it is, atlast thee.

 

O my dearest father of mine,

is it really you? with that luminous shine.

O guide me sir, I am in a life's quagmire,

Please, show me the way out of this tumultuous fire.

 

For I have not done anything you would not,

I have long strived to be you, and I forgot,

sir I can't be you, I have to be me,

I have to be! for no one else can be thee.

 

You taught me love and kindness,

you taught me to be brave and show fairness.

You gave me no one else did, a gift,

yes! an intellectual gift.

 

Ah, now I see, you have very well known,

I am an adult and I am fully grown.

Ah I see, I have to find myself out,

Yes, for now, I will seek the way out.

I will every night,

even the cloudiest of night,

look for the brightest starry light,

and perhaps a little glimpse of thee? 

How many Iraqi soldiers have died in this war?
Nobody cares enough to count!

• Do Iraqi soldiers have families, mothers, wives and children ?
• Do Iraqi soldiers bleed?
• Do Iraqi soldiers feel pain, loyalty and love?
• Do Iraq's soldiers care less about their country than soldiers in he US army?
• Do Iraq's soldiers swear an oath to protect and serve their country?
• Do Iraqi Children love their fathers less because they serve in their countries army?
• Do an Iraqi soldiers wife's tears mean less than those of an US Military wife?
• Do Iraqi soldiers pray to God as their blood gushes into the ancient sands that gave birth to our civilization and three great religions of our planet?
• Do Iraqi soldiers stand defiant before the mightiest super power this earth has every seen?
• Do you care less for life because it exists beyond your shores?
• Do you listen as others speak of Iraq's soldiers as if they were mere animals, worthy of nothing other than slaughter?
• Do you know how you destroy your own soul by devaluing the humanity of others?
• Do you care that our nation is brutality destroying thousand of humans who are acting honorably in the defense of their country?
• If God exists do you assume he values Iraqi soldiers less than he cherishes you?
• Do you pray for Iraq's soldiers ?
  
• Or would that be Unamerican?
  
   

"Night Terras"by Les Blough

 

Spread thy wings of healing o�er me.

Bring me to thy bosom now.

Night Terra�s plunging, screaming at me,

Shrieking, breaking in my brow.

 

Catch me, hold me while I tremble.

Father go and find me there.

Careening, chasing, grinding, grabbing.

I�m fleeing horrors wild and rare.

 

Cover, press me, love me, hold me.

Lift me with your arms of might.

From those sinking Rooms of Darkness.

From those tunnels of the night.

 

Tell me they will never get me.

Say they are not even real.

Hush away those deep night terra�s.

Cover with your wings and heal.

 

 

~Basho

The Pagan

A Man�s Place