Yusef Komunkayaa
War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.
President Jimmy Carter
October Trees
by Siegfried Sassoon
How innocent were these Trees, that in
Mist-green May, blown by a prospering breeze,
Stood garlanded and gay;
Who now in sundown glow
Of serious color clad confront me with their show
As though resigned and sad,
Trees, who unwhispering stand umber, bronze, gold;
Pavilioning the land for one grown tired and old;
Elm, chestnut, aspen and pine, I am merged in you,
Who tell once more in tones of time,
Your foliaged farewell.
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Love In The Time of War
by Yusef Komunkayaa
Tonight, the old hard work of love
has given up. I can't unbutton promises
or sing secrets into your left ear
tuned to quivering plucked strings.
No, please. I can't face the reflection
of metal on your skin & in your eyes,
can't risk weaving new breath into war fog.
The anger of the trees is rooted in the soil.
Let me drink in your newly found river
of sighs, your way with incantations.
Let me see if I can't string this guitar
& take down your effigy of moonlight
From the cross, the dogwood in bloom
printed on memory's see-through cloth.
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