{"id":173387,"date":"2020-11-23T12:02:10","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T12:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=173387"},"modified":"2020-11-22T03:44:01","modified_gmt":"2020-11-22T03:44:01","slug":"remembering-jfk-voices-from-a-smoldering-grave-memorial-prose-poem-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/11\/remembering-jfk-voices-from-a-smoldering-grave-memorial-prose-poem-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering JFK: Voices from a Smoldering Grave . . . Memorial Prose Poem"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (29 May 1917 \u2013 22 Nov 1963) President of the United States of America<\/em><\/p>\n

I write in memory of a tragic day in history that changed the destiny of the USA and the world. With the assassination of JFK, the path was open for presidential deceit and deception, for abuses of national purpose and moral authority. Say what you will, JFK was our nation’s last hope for principled charismatic leadership capable of inspiring hope and sacrifice for higher purpose.<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I cannot rest,
\nMy spirit rages;
\nIncomplete truths, lies — remain.
\nMy grave smolders.<\/p>\n

I seek escape,
\nFrom casket, eternal flame, defamation,
\nContrived by scrupulous minds,
\nPenned by stained hands.<\/p>\n

Conspiracy!
\nProtection for villains,
\nSafety from condemnation.
\nI was assassinated!<\/strong><\/p>\n

A grievous, immoral, illegal, act!
\nComplicit forces: Government, military, corporations, criminals!
\nNo remorse, faux tears, false sympathies:
\n\u201cYour Daddy was a great man, Caroline!\u201d<\/p>\n

Fear of contentions:
\nEnd wars, reduce military,
\nProsecute criminals,
\nRestore national identity!<\/p>\n

Accept faults,
\nConfess errors,
\nCompensate victims,
\nOn your knees, America!<\/p>\n

Democracy disguised!
\nSecret State, Shadow State, Deep State, No State;
\nCabals, factions, sects, cliques, clans, tribes, parties!
\nPlots, plans, intrigue \u2013 cowards –conspiracy!<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In death, I remain:
\nTimeless beacon,
\nImage of truth,
\nSymbol of hope.<\/p>\n

Evil continues!
\nRelishing roles,
\nCelebrating deceit,
\nSecure in schemes.<\/p>\n

Know this:
\nFrom each grain of earthy dust,
\nI continue to speak,
\nSilence impossible!<\/p>\n

III.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

What madness possesses you?
\nWhat fury grips your mind?
\nWhat passions drives you,
\nJustified betrayal!<\/p>\n

You kill your own,
\nOblivious to consequence,
\nHardened to suffering,
\nA grinning demon in morning mirror!<\/p>\n

Patriot Act, DHS, NSA, FBI, CIA, DEA, . . .
\nAcronyms hide vile purpose.
\nYou crave dominion;
\nMy God, you are evil!<\/p>\n

My assassination insufficient?
\nFamily deaths: Brother? Son? Lovers?
\nEach death whetting voracious appetites,
\nPleasuring for more?<\/p>\n

Plausible deniability!
\nCover: National Security!
\nNo fear! No constraint.
\nNo limit to menace<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eisenhower saw, warned, escaped.
\nShocked by knowledge and participation,
\nHis image now safe!
\nKansas!
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnson burdened by graves he dug!
\nCarter repentant for Christian compromise . . .
\nReagan, smiling, failing, vomiting.
\nNixon, mad with paranoia.<\/p>\n

Clinton caught by semen splashes,
\nG. H. W. Bush enamored with elites, oaths, oligarchy, Skull & Bones;
\nG. W. Bush, \u201cYou are with us, or against us.\u201d He lived both!
\nObama, transparent promises, lived lies!<\/p>\n

These our leaders!
\nCry America! Shout enough!
\nThey lead to please:
\nWar machines, coffin makers, gold collectors!<\/p>\n

Libraries, shrines, sacred places to preserve names.
\nMarble slabs inscribed words, images, reputations.
\nKeep alive presidential cults, designed to mollify,
\nPenance for sin! Atonement for lies!<\/p>\n

I claim no special sanction,
\nBeyond my mapped death.
\nDismiss me if you will,
\nFlee, if you wish, from hypocrisy.<\/p>\n

Know I walked corridors of power,
\nKnow I stood whispered gatherings,
\nKnow I tolerated secrecy;
\nFor this, I suffer even in death!<\/p>\n

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea m\u00e1xima culpa.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you . . . \u201c
\nI learned, too late, lessons of betrayal,
\nI learned, too late, trials of victimhood.<\/p>\n

No longer! I speak now for those killed,
\nHome and abroad, young and old,
\nAcross time and place.
\nMemories cannot be bought!<\/p>\n

V.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fascism thrives!
\nWho won? Homeland, Fatherland, Empire, Kingdom, Amerika!
\nUber Alles<\/em><\/strong>! Deaths in vain?<\/p>\n

Surveillance, archives, fusion centers,<\/p>\n

Drones, robots, androids!
\nYou defile warriors!
\nYou dishonor soldiers.
\nYou glorify war, dismiss death, distance no forgiveness.
\n\u00a0<\/strong>
\nI am cold in bone and body, <\/strong>
\nShriveled from age and decay,<\/strong>
\nScattered dust on coffin floor, <\/strong>
\nGuarded by impervious flame.<\/strong>
\n\u00a0<\/strong>
\nLike John\u2019s Brown body,<\/strong>
\nI smolder in my grave,<\/strong>
\nAsking when will it end?<\/strong>
\nWe are fodder!<\/strong>
\n\u00a0<\/strong>
\nWords rise from flames: \u00a0<\/strong>
\nYou command, kill, destroy; <\/strong>
\nFor naught! Ask John Brown\u2019s Body!<\/strong>
\n\u201c. . . Truth goes marching on!\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

___________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>, is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Emeritus Professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii\u2019s Manoa Campus in Honolulu, Hawaii, and past director of the World Health Organization Psychiatric Research Center in Honolulu. \u00a0He is known internationally as a pioneer figure in the study of culture and psychopathology who challenged the ethnocentrism and racial biases of many assumptions, theories, and practices in psychology and psychiatry. In more recent years, he has been writing and lecturing on peace and social justice. He has published 21 books and more than 300 articles, tech reports, and popular commentaries. His<\/em> TMS articles may be accessed<\/em> HERE<\/a> and he can be reached at <\/em>marsella@hawaii.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I write in memory of a tragic day in history that changed the destiny of the USA and the world. With the assassination of JFK, the path was open for presidential deceit and deception, for abuses of national purpose and moral authority. Say what you will, JFK was our nation’s last hope for principled charismatic leadership capable of inspiring hope and sacrifice for higher purpose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":148286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[1629,868],"class_list":["post-173387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-format","tag-jfk","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}