Poetry Thursday
Happy Poetry Thursday!
I wanted to write something new for today, but alas, it was not meant to be. Instead, I give you this poem from Thomas Lux, which has stayed with me ever since I heard him read it as part of the Poetry Foundation's podcast series. It sums up how I've been feeling lately, especially the line "We do this, they do that," on the futility of war.
Looking forward to reading your words this week.
The People of the Other Village
hate the people of this village
and would nail our hats
to our heads for refusing in their presence to remove them
or staple our hands to our foreheads
for refusing to salute them
if we did not hurt them first: mail them packages of rats,
mix their flour at night with broken glass.
We do this, they do that.
They peel the larynx from one of our brothers’ throats.
We devein one of their sisters.
The quicksand pits they built were good.
Our amputation teams were better.
We trained some birds to steal their wheat.
They sent to us exploding ambassadors of peace.
They do this, we do that.
We canceled our sheep imports.
They no longer bought our blankets.
We mocked their greatest poet
and when that had no effect
we parodied the way they dance
which did cause pain, so they, in turn, said our God
was leprous, hairless.
We do this, they do that.
Ten thousand (10,000) years, ten thousand
(10,000) brutal, beautiful years.
~Thomas Lux
I wanted to write something new for today, but alas, it was not meant to be. Instead, I give you this poem from Thomas Lux, which has stayed with me ever since I heard him read it as part of the Poetry Foundation's podcast series. It sums up how I've been feeling lately, especially the line "We do this, they do that," on the futility of war.
Looking forward to reading your words this week.
The People of the Other Village
hate the people of this village
and would nail our hats
to our heads for refusing in their presence to remove them
or staple our hands to our foreheads
for refusing to salute them
if we did not hurt them first: mail them packages of rats,
mix their flour at night with broken glass.
We do this, they do that.
They peel the larynx from one of our brothers’ throats.
We devein one of their sisters.
The quicksand pits they built were good.
Our amputation teams were better.
We trained some birds to steal their wheat.
They sent to us exploding ambassadors of peace.
They do this, we do that.
We canceled our sheep imports.
They no longer bought our blankets.
We mocked their greatest poet
and when that had no effect
we parodied the way they dance
which did cause pain, so they, in turn, said our God
was leprous, hairless.
We do this, they do that.
Ten thousand (10,000) years, ten thousand
(10,000) brutal, beautiful years.
~Thomas Lux
Comments
(I'm caught in the PT posting filter today.)
This hits hard...
such a treasure trove of info you are, my dear!!!
best,
Kelli
Should be required reading for every politician.
best,
lisa
Yes, it's definitely a truth that needs repeating.