Danielle Maggio
Man Moves On
With a stretch of his neck he no longer sees hunger,
The grumbling of brown belly's becomes softer and softer,
The flies on dry skin become smaller and smaller,
And as a Mother weeps, a Man moves on
Placing fingers in his ears he no longer hears rushing waters,
The old voice of jazz trumpets becomes clearer and clearer,
The parades in the streets becomes louder and louder,
And as a city falls, a Man moves on
Plugging his nose he no longer smells the stink of bombs,
The skin eating smoke becomes thinner and thinner,
The innocent killed become fewer and fewer,
And as a leader declares war, a Man moves on
Taking a step back he no longer feels the heat of flames,
The stench of burning flesh becomes sweeter and sweeter,
The innocence stolen from women becomes gentler and gentler,
And as a sacrifice is made, a Man moves on
With a stretch of his neck he no longer sees hunger,
The grumbling of brown belly's becomes softer and softer,
The flies on dry skin become smaller and smaller,
And as the images remain, a Man moves on.
Tired Poem
We've traveled to foreign land before
Wiping salty sweat from the eyes that will witness faithless crimes
and the ears that will hear innocent screams
and the fingers that with one bend will end lives
We've invaded these homes before
Arriving in helicopters to play the Domino game
and leaving in them, back to the states to have your loved ones look over you
in a wooden box
We've cried these tears before
Letting go of our sons and daughters yet again with hope there is truth
in the recruiting officers promises, while loosing a minute of sleep for every life lost because of them
We've swallowed these lies before
Attaching ourselves to the media's strings and becoming a chorus of puppets
who won't speak out, finding silence especially hard when My Lai Massacre-like events are reported
We've used these excuses before
Explaining that Communism will indeed spread and terrorists will in fact
bomb again, keeping the nation on Red alert to birth fear and hatred that is necessary for war
We've fought this war before
Our nation has again been divided, no longer by Hawks and Doves but simply the Cruel and the Peaceful
As smiles and nakedness once acted as protest, we now join together to walk with our banners and raise up our signs
and Dylan's question fails to be answered
for the cannon balls still fly
people still die
and until that wind blows on through our Administration
we will continue to oppose war
because we've sung that song before.
Danielle Maggio is a twenty year old Liberal Arts & Science major concentrating in Psychology, Creative Writing and Religion at Hofstra University. Originally from Pittsburgh Danielle wrote poetry for The NewPeople, a publication of the Thomas Merton Center, reporting on the issues of war, poverty, racism and oppression. She also wrote a one-act play, The Best Minds of Their Generation, which was performed at The Pittsburgh City Theatre's Young Playwrights Festival in Fall 2005. Drawing from Beat, Buddhist and musical influences Danielle expresses her freedom through written word and hopes to one day influence others to raise their voices.
(author retains copyright)
