For Hillary
If I could talk from both sides of my mouth,
I could present both sides of an argument at the same time.
Like "peace and war".
Spoken together, they would sound like “Peacewar”,
The French word for a place to take a leak
OLD CLOTHES
They
say that if you wash clothes often,
They get nice and soft, and comfortable to wear.
Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to sell a war.
We’ve been washed in them so many times.
THE BIG WAR
When I woke from the unconsciousness
of infancy,
I read that Italy was bombing Addis Ababa, land of the King of Judah.
When I woke to what gender meant,
I read that Franco was bombing the Loyalists of Spain, his own people.
When I woke to how to make love,
they taught me how to make death.
What shall I wake to next?
by
Jerry Chawes
c.2006