September 11th, October 7th

Written by Barb Wednesday, 08 April 2009 00:56

by barb howe

We want revenge
Because the sky has fallen into the earth
And it’s hard to breathe dirt
And our mouths are filled with ashes
And we don’t know what else to do

I cannot tell where the line of people ends
They circle back and start over again

Faces of terror and retribution
Staring dryly in the early morning haze
Stunned
In the fog and smoke of bombed buildings
In New York
In Afghanistan
They pick up the pieces
And start again

And the suited men in capitals
Seated around tables in safe cities
Start over again
While the shells of children cry out
Their bodies litter the streets

There is war here
And the peacemakers
And the soldiers
Walk the same torn and bleeding earth
They pick through the pieces
And start again

Bread

Written by Barb Wednesday, 08 April 2009 00:55

by barb howe

We who are born hungry
do not know it.

We do not know
that there is war here
and despair shatters the night
and the bodies of children.

A world falls apart for lack of bread.

We have coffee and bisquits
in the broken morning
and watch the green flicker of wars
fill our tv screens
and we do not remember
the emptiness
of hunger.

There is war here.
Still.
And no one knows who the enemy is.

When men and women go to war
only their shadows remain.

The bakeries stay open into the night
churning out loaves.
We fish them out of dumpsters
And eat in alleyways and gutters.

There is war here.
Daily.
And no one knows the name of hunger
because there is so much of it

A world falls apart
For lack of bread.

How to Remember

Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 September 2011 16:36 Written by Barb Tuesday, 10 July 2007 00:00

Look into the sun.
Dive into the water.
Lie in your bed and throw the sheet up
Slowly.  So slowly.
Now you know what heaven is.

You have to practice. 
you know it, like the feel
Of your head on your mother’s lap,
Like her fingers tracing
The contours of your ear.
Instinctively you remember: you, suspended,
light air water.  It envelopes you.
There are no boundaries.
You are everywhere.

You remember, else how did you know what perfect was
When you were so young?
You imaged it in your dreams,
birthday parties and Christmases
A million colors, a million faces, just light and air
You will be light as air
With no name.
And this freedom will make you giddy.

All along you have not forgotten.
It happened
Once.
And it will happen again,
If you wait.

And meanwhile, look at the sky
See the sun kissing your eyelashes.
Don’t turn away.  Just wait.
There is so much you don't remember.