I Am Too Poor to Go to War…
IN FOCUS, 21 Jun 2010
David Inkey - TRANSCEND Media Service
A Poem
I am too poor to go to war…
Let me tell you the score…
Your last war left my crops asunder,
Now my children hunger…
You planted mines in my field…
Nothing but misery, they yield…
Your current battle destroyed my cattle,
Only a bull and a cow…
Because I am not a Muslim or a Jew, you allow me a sow…
Your soldiers gloat that they got my goat…
Was it the marines who stole my sheep…
From you, many sorrows I do reap…
With preemptive interventions and multiple inventions,
You tell me of good intentions?
Who is supposed to explain the detentions?
With great math, the war’s cost you do extend,
With your latest military budget, me, you do offend…
Who is to pay for road mending, for health care spending…
For student tending, for water vending…
Quartermaster, halfmaster, fullmaster…
Who would envision worse provision…
Domestically, you insist on standard testing, with efficiency…
You teach war games with proficiency…
Would that we could help children with educational sufficiency…
While far away, thousands of troops are quickly deployed…
In iraq, bosnia, haiti, siam or thailand…
At home, the streets fill with the unemployed…
I do believe… I am too poor to go to war…
I am out of step, I am inept… I am too poor…
Yes, I am rich with other stuff… with Thomas Mann, I have a lease…
“War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.”
Would I, would you, would we, if we could, afford peace…
I am too poor to go to war…
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 21 Jun 2010.
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