Swans

to all those lost 2/13/91 4:30 a.m.
by the u.s. fighter bombing of a civilian shelter

A Poem by John Bart Gerald
with a Drawing by Julie Maas

where does this war begin
who pulled the pin
point bombing which makes truth a lie
so many people die
there's no return from genocide
no place for the poor to hide
so when justice comes let the poor decide
where this war began
blood of children warm red ran
in this slaughter called "american"
where did his soul break
who gave the order drew a line
in sand, tied all our lives to the stake
"collateral damage" is an accountable mistake
of missiles and mechanized screaming birds
against a living language of the oldest words
against the ancient mother of civilization
who loving people loves no nation

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John Bart Gerald's poems have appeared internationally and rarely since the Sixties; currently he writes in Ottawa. Julie Maas is a graphics artist and painter. She began working in the early Sixties in New York. Gerald and Maas founded Gerald and Maas * editions / atelier in New York City (1978) before moving to Canada in 1995. They also maintain a small Community Online. The poem and the drawing are published with the written permission of the author and the artist respectively.

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Please, feel free to insert a link to this poem on your Web site or to disseminate its URL on your favorite lists, quoting a few verses. However, please DO NOT steal, scavenge or repost this work without the expressed written authorization of Swans. This material is copyrighted, © 1991 John Bart Gerald for the poem and Julie Maas for the drawing. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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