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Peace Movement members' poetry. Contact John to have yours posted.
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your poetry promises to us that you are, in fact, the author of the writing
you submit and that you are giving us permission to publish your work on our
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On the Mall, October Afternoon
by Nathaniel Smith
Washington DC, ca. 1988
Among the quiet crowd
we go farther, my students
and I, down into the shadows.
They see these depths only by feel
of feet at the ribbon of names—one
caught in crossfire, two on a bare hill,
four in a jungle river, eight and sixteen—
thickening into a pit that's taller than a man
in uniform stands. Little they know this place
could be mine, someone else walking beside them.
One of them looks for a cousin, born my same year,
good student, two teams, remembered by friends.
She's not sure of his name and never finds him.
Toward the granite, all their hands stretch,
seeking an unknowing communion against
passing that way again. Now their feet
rise above the flowers at the foot of
the wall, black stone for the living,
their heads high to see the sun.
We'll visit another holocaust
nearby in the morning.
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More Poems
Address to the President
As the Party Rages On
The Shadow of War
War and Peace (2005)
America Pt. 2
I am a Liberal IV
Silent Faces
The Conference
On the Mall, October Afternoon
Over there
News from the Front
The Night of the Bulldozers
Going Over (2004)
Pearl Harbor Day
Random Poem
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