Demonstrations after the Seventh Day

Demonstrations after the Seventh Day

sirens,

militia

streets jammed with people not cars

carrying signs for love not wars

broken windows,

broken faith in government

draftees coming home in pieces

reading poetry from torn volumes

crippled poets

wail

fail the words

a war in four syllables

the pain, just one

creation was in six days

God rested,

soldiers fought on the seventh

now there is nothing but ocean and land

worth saving

universal peace came too late

in a quiet place

only graves

the love is buried there.

erin-cilberto

11/12/21

Reviews

[William Michael Reeves]

Maybe that's what's wrong with war. No embedded poets. But then they'd just end up crippled, right?

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I think many do end up crippled in the head...
thank you, William,
j.

[shadrach hah]

Hi Jacob, on the seventh day our young went forward, following love of country into battle's fray. They believed in something bigger than themselves. So many came back broken. That does cause me pain as I read your powerful write, my friend. Wouldn't peace in the world be a WONDERFUL THING. Probably not in my lifetime. Yes, my friend, only graves. A sad commentary on our world. Have a wonderful Friday....Mike.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I hoped for that in the sixties, Mike, but now I doubt I will see that day.
thank you,
j.

[shadrach hah]

You are welcome, Jacob. May it come to happen one day....Mike.

[Kerra]

Complicated lives we all live, and I feel it is getting more that way the older we get. I like when you said..

creation was in six days
God rested,
soldiers fought on the seventh

To me this means, we will always stand and fight for what is ours including freedom.
Very well written and said.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Appreciate your words, Kerra,
j.

[Zoe Richardson]

The world is a complicated place, and humanity is a complicated species. Still, some things are worth fighting for. Worth dying for. I love my freedom. I am deeply grateful to those who fought to preserve it, and to bring it to others. Even if they didn't agree with our leaders, they served when asked. That counts for something. We can't secure our future by fighting our battles in the past. But we can pause and reflect on them. Thank you for your perspective and reflection.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for the share...I, too, am deeply grateful...and I came very close to being one of them back in the day.
j.

[Zoe Richardson]

My father was one of them. So was my uncle. Different wars, though. Isn't it funny how those who fought against the establishment are now the establishment seeking power and control and restricting freedom? Sometimes I think noone sees that irony, and if you point it out you get some really odd looks.

[barleygirl]

It's often hard to fathom that our system of government & society is the crème de la crème of what this old world has to offer, but then I notice my friend from another country must stop reviewing becuz her country periodically turns off the electricity for hours (((HUGS)))

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, despite its flaws, I don't think I would want to live anywhere but here.
thank you, Margie,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

We are a destructive species. We destroy everything. We are even destroying our own planet. Poets know that and write about it. Sadly there is little they can do about it. Thought provoking poem brother J.

Sis Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, we can do no more that write about it and hope someone is listening.
thank you, sis Chris.
j.

[Ted Kniffen]

A thoughtful tribute to those troubled times. There can be no peace with soldiers coming home in pieces ... physically or mentally. My father was one of those ... dealing with demons and drinking himself to death at 44.
Poets have played at war too often ... one immortalized the Dead. "In Flanders fields the poppies blow
between the crosses row on row" ... too many crosses ... too many graves where love is buried.
When God rested ... Man stepped forward to undo so much.

Good one j.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

your last line is so true...the undo.
I had friends who went over there, came back different...dealing with those demons.
j.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

It is strange how the turmoil of the 60's echo in these days. As if the issues fought for in those times still remain unresolved. As a society we praise our veterans yet despise the wars they fought in. And that leaves out the fact those who returned in pieces are treated horribly in their Healthcare through the government. I remember asking my uncle who fought in Vietnam what was the most difficult thing for him to deal with after his return to the states. He said coming back alive when many of his friends he considered brothers over there did not return. It was then that he said that you can't force peace at the end of a gun, you can only destroy it. Thank you J for sharing your poem with us.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

we just never learn, do we, Carlos?
thank you for your insightful words here.
j.