http://www.buzzflash.com/mailbag/05/08/mai05214.html-snip-
Subject: A Poem For Parents
Gathering. For Cindy Sheehan
Gathering
The mothers and fathers
Dragging their hearts behind them like anchors
Down bitter, choking prairie roads
Ghosts wait on the horizon
Gathering
At the emperor’s gate
Pleading for an audience
Their words roll aimlessly across the dead earth
Like sagebrush through a ravine
Gathering
The emperor will not see them
Cowering behind veils
Lies boiling under his skin
Underlings swirl about in mesmerizing dances
Gathering
Mourners at a funeral
Wondering where their children are hiding
Frightening moments
Followed by echoes
Gathering
Clouds above the stables
The horses sense fear
Drink, my emperor, drink more wine
Languish again in the pool of certainty
Gathering
Mothers and Fathers wail
Ripping at their clothes in frustration
Where is the glory, they demand
To an emperor who can hear nothing but his voice
While ghosts wait on the horizon
JPA
Minneapolis
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