{"id":93261,"date":"2017-06-05T12:01:28","date_gmt":"2017-06-05T11:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=93261"},"modified":"2018-12-20T09:49:15","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T09:49:15","slug":"now-float-me-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/06\/now-float-me-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Now Float Me Down\u2026."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>31 May 2017 – <\/em>During our recent \u201ccelebration\u201d of Memorial Day, I heard the rumblings of muscular motorcycles outside my window, on the streets below my apartment in Washington, D.C. There seemed to be many such displays in public places or on TV. A former judge in my apartment building told me about \u201cfestivities\u201d taking place at the Kennedy Center, to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of John F. Kennedy.<\/p>\n

But, none of this felt right. Or, at least, not more than partially right. For, while we must acknowledge the sacrifices and contributions of those who help and defend, how can we neglect those who continue to mourn lost friends, lost lovers, lost parents, children, siblings? Lost limbs, lost hopes and dreams?<\/p>\n

War is the failure of humanity\u2013a collective failure to be better than we might be. It is the failure of all \u201cleaders\u201d to collaborate on peaceful settlement\u2013to work towards \u201cpositive peace\u201d (as Johan Galtung has it: shared responsibilities and benefits of peace) as well as the usual \u201ccelebrated\u201d \u201cnegative peace\u201d of non-conflict.<\/p>\n

Some years ago, I heard poet Robert Bly (author of \u201cIron John\u201d and other notable books) talk about the need to \u201cmourn.\u201d He described it as a means of \u201cstepping into grief,\u201d acknowledging our losses, our sorrows.<\/p>\n

Not simply to \u201cmove on,\u201d as the simple among us believe and exhort, but to move deeper\u2013into ourselves and into our common humanity.<\/p>\n

On Veterans Day and Memorial Day and the 4th of July, let us remember the Peace Veterans, too. And let us grieve for those in all nations who share the losses of lives and hopes and dreams.<\/p>\n

During the Vietnam War, long ago (but not so long ago!), my thoughts coalesced in a poem I wrote for one I loved: a poem to contrast the \u201chigh town\u201d of love\u2013sexual, sensual, spiritual\u2013from the scarred earth of scattered bones and broken lives\u2026.<\/p>\n

***************************<\/p>\n

Now Float Me Down<\/strong><\/p>\n

(\u2013for Joye)<\/p>\n

Now float me down from that high town, my love;
\nFor we are born to sorrow, men have said,
\nAnd cannot travel where the angels rove;
\nNow float me down to ground where men have bled.<\/p>\n

There, heartache cannot thunder through our skin;
\nWe\u2019re drenched to magic, drunken out of time;
\nThe hours dance like refugees between
\nOur arms; the cool moon\u2019s hanging like a dime.<\/p>\n

Here, where we\u2019re waked by sudden storms of bombs,
\nThe infant\u2019s world is strangled with a groan;
\nDeath, perched on crutches, pesters us for alms.
\nO, do not rush me here, now float me down\u2026.<\/p>\n

The ghosts of many gunners chafe the ground
\nWhere we dance heart to heart without a sound.<\/p>\n

______________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Dr. Gary Steven Corseri is a m<\/em>ember of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment.<\/a> He has published and posted articles, fiction and poems at hundreds of venues, including,<\/em> TMS (Transcend Media Service<\/a>)<\/a>, The New York Times, Village Voice, Redbook Magazine and<\/em> Counterpunch.\u00a0 He has published 2 novels and 2 collections of poetry, and his dramas have been produced on<\/em> PBS-Atlanta and elsewhere.\u00a0 He has performed his poems at the Carter Presidential Library and Museum and has taught in universities in the US and Japan, and in US public schools and prisons.\u00a0 Contact: Gary_Corseri@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let us remember the Peace Veterans, too. And let us grieve for those in all nations who share the losses of lives and hopes and dreams. During the Vietnam War, long ago (but not so long ago!), my thoughts coalesced in a poem I wrote for one I loved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry-format"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93261","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=93261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}