Unjustified Hope

Nations dispute. People fight.

Innocent civilians die.

Once immaculate childhoods

are now shattered and in a state of confusion.

We all fight. We all assume.

We all are quick to judge

and the judged are quickly murdered.

Power hungry. Money hungry.

All hungry for anything

that we can get our filthy piggy hands on.

Oil. Black gold.

"Don't destroy your nation's riches"...

(because then we can't have them).

Freedom. From what?

An evil dictator

or a self-glorifying peoples across the sea?

All ugly. Everything grey.

Sand. In my eyes.

I'm hungry. I need food.

What will I feed my children?

Sand.

It's in my lungs. It burns.

Flying boxes through the air.

Salvation? No.

Just enough for the next week.

"It will be quick. Only about three weeks long."

LIARS!

"We originally thought it would be quick

but we now foresee the war going

for six months. Maybe more."

People drop.

Children mangled.

Parents gone.

While we worry about Priscilla Presley's love life.

Shallow.

Awards are handed to actors and actresses.

While mothers are praying

for their sons and daughters to come home safe.

We all look amazed

at the pretty sequins and chantilly lace.

But pause to speak: nobody listens.

(Speak louder. They hear you)

They seem to understand but most are just followers.

They don't really care.

And others just won't hear of it.

Cover your eyes. Cover your ears.

But you can still sense the danger.

Cowards.

We sit. We wait.

We hope for the best.

New-found patriotism and sudden belief in anything.

God. Allah. Buddha. Nature.

All the same.

Same basic principle.

"Do unto others

As you would have them do unto you."

Resolution? Maybe.

Downfall of dictatorship? Don't know.

Peace on earth? Not likely.

But it's nice to hope for something.

-Marisol Tena (3/03)