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Border of Bombs
by Alison McKenzieShes getting new orders,
And the likelihood is
That shes being sent to
To the border
Of the number one place
In the WAR AGAINST TERROR
To die.
Jesus.
It is a stand-alone prayer
That I feel too selfish to pray.
Wont someones child die?
And do I have the right to pray
Please, Lord, not my child, Lord, not mine,
The lame, selfish prevention of pain
In my own heart.
I am despicable.
My son looks it up
On an internet world map.
And I cover my mouth
To muffle the horror.
Tear out my womb
And blow it up!
I would swear on all that is sacred to me
That I would do it,
But my shoulders slump
As I cry an ocean -
And none of it,
None of my grandest intentions -
Will change what is coming,
Whatever is coming.
While she,
My innocent one,
Is excited to go,
Excited for the elevated wage,
That she will save enough to buy a car,
Not knowing how close she will be
To the bombing,
The burning buildings of
Lives everywhere spent
On nothing.
04/16/2007 Author's Note: My daughter called me tonight. She tells me in her innocent glee about the new orders they will be getting, and when she tells me Kuwait, it takes all my best cloaking skills to keep my cool. She was all jazzed about how much money she'll be making. I know why, but she does not. I want to issue threats, but to whom? I want to wail upon the ground in my newfound fears, but to which God shall I direct my lamentations? I heard on the news last night that another Oregon soldier/child had been killed when a bomb went off near his Humm-V. He is the same age as my Jessica, and he joined the service the same month.
Posted on 04/17/2007
Copyright © 2024 Alison McKenzie
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 04/17/07 at 02:10 PM I want to hide my children away and they aren't even in the military. This is an excellent poem and I appreciated the author's notes. |
| Posted by A. Paige White on 12/06/07 at 08:06 PM Oh Ali! This is a gorgeous mother's lament. As writer you take the reader deeply into you as a mother. With the power of the emotion alone, you make us one with you in your fear and anxiety for your child. Superb. Let us all live well as we wait for death (none of us are getting out of this thing alive) on a day that none but God knows for each of us. "to which God shall I direct my lamentations?" My personal conviction is that Gabriel announced the Savior born of the virgin Mary because He introduced Himself to me. I haven't met the other one that Gabriel is supposed to have announced. In the interests of being polite, Gabriel is either schizophrenic or somebody's gospel of an angel's appearance is an imposter... There is no polite way of saying it's something other than what it is. They are opposing accounts. I pray the real God would bless the real Gabriel to show some muscle against the angelic imposter for this Holiday season... |
| Posted by Joan Serratelli on 03/03/09 at 06:07 PM I always said that I was blessed not to have sons. War is hell, but the prospect of losing a child to a meaningless war is unspeakable. When you're young, you think you are invinsible- not afraid of deeath. As e grow older, we know better. VERY powerful write. I pray your child is back in your loving arms now. |
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