can you see

thought upon going to Post Office this morning

can you see

unfurled flags

half-staff waves

 

over

home of the free

land of the brave

 

or

killing sprees

 

in

grocery stores

parking lots

bus stations

schools

marathons

theaters

concerts

private homes

city streets

 

filling graves

 

 

Reviews

[Chris]

News reporting is subjective - fifty kids missing in Cleveland Ohio in the last two weeks - crickets.
Zoe Saldana poses topless - most read on Yahoo. Immediately below Headline about Jobs Report.

Death and perceptions carry Headline clicks ...clickbait. 350+ million people in the U.S. - a robber is shot; a tourist gets too near a Bison; illegals gather at a border; A tourist in France; Stabbing in England; Irish Gov't to euthanize cows; A car accident; a shark attack - all video at 6 PM broadcast.

Mass and Corporate Media is PUSHING ...CERTAIN (but only certain)... gun violence - with an agenda for political gain and influence and to infuse FEAR and apprehension in the general populace. People ARE dying in ALL locales daily - crime, accidents, intent... but the Media reports and shapes perceptions. They parrot opinions - on the SAME events, using the SAME words - across all channels... propaganda? Guns don't load themselves, nor pull their triggers...people do. Sick, afraid, depressed, hopeless, suicidal, drug infused, criminal, beyond angry, in the throes of Rage, and a host of other so-called reasons... even ones known only to the doer. Life has NEVER been fair, innocence and naivete` abound. Wrong place, wrong time. Biblical even - Cain killed Abel. The Spanish Inquisition, so many Crusades, uncounted wars...

What is truthfully to be done? ...to be considered? Yes, it IS terrible but more so are the alternatives being parroted. Just my opinion... we ARE still "allowed" to have those... barely.

[carl]

appreciate you read review and perspective.

[John the Baptist]

An interesting contrast here. The first lines are a nod to Memorial Day and all the noble things it represents. It is a day when flowers and flags are laid on the graves of those who voluntarily made the ultimate sacrifice. The second half of the poem notes our current reality of mass shootings, where other Americans made the ultimate sacrifice, too, but not voluntarily. That these two realities could co-exist in the same country at the same time is the extremest of ironies. Unfortunately, I don't see it changing anytime soon.

[carl]

Thank you for the read and comments in your review, I fear you are correct about the unlikely change in our culture and it is a sad note that so many would day to have a land of the free and home of the brave and there would be so many that use the freedom to execute the innocent. I fear we are really screwed up.

[Soyam]

Bitter reality!!!

Well written sir!!!

[carl]

Thanks for the read and encouragement. -carl

[Neville]

.. it's murder getting to our local post office on pension days too sir .. tis murder out there isn't it .. all joking aside tho' .. it seems we are living in an increasingly perilous push button, pop a pill, pull trigger world and it saddens me greatly .. a well poemed truth sir Carl .. Neville

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

“ filling graves”…
I have had such contradictory thoughts of late Carl, and so your important and powerful poem resonates with me. Your grievous litany, your role call of the dead, is a true and ominous harbinger of the destructive path this beloved country has sadly taken. Too many new angels have flown. Can we effect the change that will save us? .. America The Beautiful just cannot survive like this.

[W. Barrett Munn]

All these flags remind me of flag-draped coffins of soldiers - is that all we have become, the American “killing fields”.

Winston

[Soren]

Carl such an interesting write on a touchy subject, the balance between individual freedom and other's right to safety and their own freedom. We seem to have lost, or maybe never had, proper respect for the rights of others and yet demand our own. A poignant write.

[carl]

thank you for the read and review, much appreciated - balance is what is needed for sure, and such a difficult thing to achieve and maintain. - be well, carl

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

This is both sad and thought provoking. I love our flag, and I love this country. I believe in freedom. Freedom, however, comes with responsibility and a moral compass as well. Unfortunately, as a people, we seem to have lost our moral compass. Freedom has been turned on its head. I worry for this country, I truly do.

[carl]

thank you for the read and review, I understand and agree with your concern and we must hold on to and work toward a better future. -carl

[Red Brick Keshner]

And as they raise their colours higher we remind ourselves of who we are and why we live, we the people. Let us not allow each other to forget. Flags move with the breeze and wherever our lives bring us we rise from the same ideal source.

[carl]

thanks for your read and review much appreciated