you start small
chipping away at civic pride
cutting into budgets to schools, to children and teachers;
erecting gaudy monuments to fire fighters who
died September 11
(but forgetting to insure the ones who showed up that day to help
but weren’t officially on duty);
you turn your head against indignities in veterans hospitals
refusing to see caskets of soldiers
returning from two seven-year post partisan wars against enemies
whose real lives you will never allow yourself
to imagine.
you let your indifference build
into a tsunami
as the floodwaters of the lower ninth ward rise
and people die in the street and on t.v.
but you turn away the survivors in a line that day
a reverse Birmingham March
because you believe their civil rights end at this bridge
into your city limits.
you watch as the last of an American breed,
an old guard, call the first Latina American nominated for the Supreme Court
a racist; sneer at what they see as her
deepest fault:empathy;
you enunciate the word with loathing; you spit it.
and in your neighborhood people lose jobs in swift waves
but not you or yours. why should you pay so
their kids can see doctors when they run fevers?
instead you learn to deny them. you learn to deny their claims.
what is a jobless recovery anyway?
it means the new welfare queens (the ones who own jets
instead of cadillacs) who are too big to fail (or to be evicted)
made mistakes, but whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy should they pay?
even now, you’re just starting to see the nobodies on t.v.
except for sport or on the news or “look there!”
too small to be noticed, for it to matter when they fail
what does poor look like these days?
well, in California , in 2009, morgues overflow because families can’t afford
to bury their dead. They can just
afford
the
cost
of
living.
but don’t look at me with that expression.
your civil rights will not end
at this bridge into
my city limits.
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Comments
That is what amazes and disgusts me about these people--their pride in their hate and inhumanity. They have absolutely no shame. Excellent post. Thank you.
thanks
rated
verbal: it feels like more than one station sometimes though, doesn't it? thank-you so much for your comment. do you ever worry though that if we have no empathy for them that we will become more like 'them'? though it's hard I know...
jagoneely: thanks. glad I'm not the only one who feels it.
micalpeace: much appreciated coming from you.
Our President wants to welcome in the new school year and wish them well. It should be a thing of inspiration for the children to have a President that thinks enough of them to let them know that he cares and it is turned instead into a way to teach children to hate and fear the black man.
It shames me beyond belief.
roger: I'm also saddened by the children must be protected from obama stance...I can't think of anything comparable. I also appreciated your rant. we're in a similar place. thanks for coming by.
ben sen: thank-you I think =)
scruffus: thanks for reading. don't you think that's the big myth in our culture that the powerful have no responsibility at all for the powerless (oops...sorry I shrunk your economy and now the least powerful people are out of work, can't afford health care, are losing their homes and living in tents...not my business la la la la la....)? this kind of thinking has taken us to this dark place & we need a way out.
mg: are you from Iowa? Funny I hadn't thought of Iowa. thank-you though for reading.
it's true about the morgues. details like that stick with you I guess. I keep getting upset when they talk about the economy rebounding (read: wallstreet) but without real job recovery, what will it mean?
dharmabummer: thank-you. and thank-you for reading.
sirenitalake (I love your name): "I sometimes think that conservatives don't know what their beliefs look like when realized." you hit the nail on the head. thank-you!
dragonlady: thank-you for your powerful response...
psychomama: I think we do need to mobilize...but isn't it funny how our culture automatically falls back on war imagery no matter what. I think we should stand up peacefully for what is true. I feel such hate in the air right now, I think it is increased by this school protest situation. But the morgues...yes. To many needlessly dead and a lack of money can cause a lot of wierd situations that we aren't used to in this country.
denese: thank-you. I'm with you too.
lainey: depressing, yes, because wars are always by default against empathy, right? it's a redundancy in the title. but I also think the only way to win this "war" is by not losing empathy for those who we (so passionately) disagree with. But it's hard when you feel under attack (or that obama's unfairly under attack). so it's hard, but wierdly this morning I feel hopeful. Maybe because sometimes anger can be a motivator. Maybe we just aren't used to seeing how hard progress is because it's been a while since we've seen much progress in this country.
delia: thank-you.
Mary Gravitt: that describes way too many of our politicians, doesn't it?
aintthatamerica: thank-you, I'm glad you think so.
padraig coleman: It means so much to me that you're back to comment. You've provided the perfect quotation for what is missing in the national (and sometimes the international) dialogue. I love what he has to say, and "the socialist's guide to camping" is an irresistable title that I'm going to have to look into. So much appreciated.
Tijo: I'm tired of the cynicism too especially when its so false. A lot of people talk endlessly about freedom, as if its the only important value, when taking some responsibility for one another is also an important part of any good nation or community of people. Thank-you.
I have written often about the loss of empathy, compassion and civility in our society, and it's just good to know I'm not alone in these thoughts.
lorelei...thank-you for commenting and I'm really glad you read this because your post, letter to america wtf helped me as I was writing this. I do think we're tapping into the same frustration. I think anger can be a good thing, as long as we don't lose empathy even for those who seem to be acting so cynically. I wanted that to be there at the end of the poem a twist that despite the (deliberate, planned) lack of empathy on the other side, we can't lose empathy for them. It's what they think makes us weaker, but they're wrong. =)
Exactly right. I'm glad I found you again! Right after I put up that post my life got crazy and I had to drop off for a while, and I feel like I lost a lot of good opportunities to make friends with like-minded people, or at least move the discussion forward.
This is stunning commentary and poetry, all wrapped up in your way of speaking. And thinking.
It resonates just as much today. maybe more given what's happening in Georgia. Thank you.