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Hostages

by Dan Garcia-Black

It’s the use of language
the fine texture of bold words
strung together in a
coherent juxtaposition of
images held at gunpoint
informed that they must
“Present Arms”
‘Forward March”
“Charge!”
the battlements of
mental barriers
put up by listeners
doing their best to be
entertained but unchanged
in this war
between my ideas
and their beliefs
(their views of reality),
my relative truth
to their absolute
and the reverse.
You’d think I could
just get it out,
so that those reading this
could understand why
it is so important
to understand how unimportant
it is to understand
what these words mean and
more about how they feel.
It’s just poetry,
Not a suicide note,
for God’s sake!
It’s not as hard as
crashing a jet into the Vatican.
But just once,
I wish the words
would lie down on the page
grateful to be my partners
in the take-over of
blank space without
the use of force.

Alright, Words,
as you were…
Run back into the dictionary.
I give up for now.
Safe until the next time
I pick up my pen
or a gun.

10/06/2005

Posted on 10/06/2005
Copyright © 2024 Dan Garcia-Black

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Gregory O'Neill on 10/07/05 at 04:07 AM

many great lines here...the struggle is well defined and in the end it's completion is maybe, a battle won, while the war rages on...

Posted by Michelle Angelini on 11/13/05 at 12:50 AM

Dan, don't we all struggle from time to time? Yet, it makes the final effort work the exquisite pain of struggling. Then sometimes the words just behave so well, as they appear to have here.
~Chelle~

Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 08/21/06 at 04:02 AM

I can feel your struggle - this is terrific! Great last stanza. And I am thoroughly enjoying your library and the fruits of your struggle. :)

Posted by Rachelle Howe on 06/20/13 at 04:36 PM

Punched and brutal. Touche.

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