Thursday, March 29, 2018

EMMA


Emma Gonzalez
by Iman, David Bowie's widow
from facebook


She stood strong as a warrior,
with steadfast eyes that have seen
a thousand heartbreaking tomorrows.
For six minutes and twenty seconds,
silence bored into our hearts
like lances, like jackhammers,
like woodpeckers whose rat-tat-tat beaks
were pointing out the missing pieces
of our souls.
The silence was as loud
as a billion children screaming
they have waited too long
for us to become wise, become sane,
to build a better, not Mad Hatter, world.

Her tears were our tears.
They watered our psyches:
for children lost,
for gunmen with weapons of war
in school hallways,
coming to slay our round-cheeked babies,
for gangs on the streets, for drive-by shootings,
for domestic murder, for the shooting
of black men with cell phones twenty times
while wearing a police uniform.

Will there ever be an end to her tears?
to the bullshit? to society broken
beyond re-imagining?

We are seeing things
we can never un-see:
men with dead eyes and hollow hearts
laying waste the future of the young,
and the present of everyone else.

Emma - David - Cameron,
and all the others:
you are warriors of a dawn
we hope will burn
the putrid decadence away.
With you, we want to rise
on this new Tomorrow
you have birthed,
re-make a world
that doesn't
make you cry.



for Shay at Fireblossom Friday: to use imagery in unexpected ways to make a better poem. The content rather took over, but I did what I could.


13 comments:

  1. A wonderful poem Sherry. I hope we can change the awful future we see today. There is much to be done.

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  2. "like woodpeckers whose rat-tat-tat beaks
    were pointing out the missing pieces
    of our souls."

    She was amazing - and I read comments about her Cuban Flag on her sleeve - upset at that but she explained it was not about the current government but about her pride in being Cuban - and that should have been that - but the arguments and articles kept the rant going. Lets stay on issue - gun regulations NOT taking away of the guns. It is harder to get cigarettes than a gun - crazy!

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  3. They amaze me. I know I'd rather stand with their crowd any day than the crowd at Trump rallies.

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  4. you conjured some vivid pictures and sounds here Sherry in this Mad Hatter world - Bravo!

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  5. For years there has been a pang in my heart every time I heard Genesis' Land of Confusion, because my generation failed to live up to the promise of "putting things right." But these kids, oh my gods, these kids may very well do it.

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  6. I was throuwn out of the closed Republicans Group because I took it upon myself to argue with them and to quote Emma, the Crisis Actress. I am so proud to have been thrown out and barred from posting. Damn sherry, it feels good.

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  7. The image of the woodpeckers rat-a-tat sound is chilling in context.

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  8. they give me hope, when I thought I had none. thank you for the gentle, strong reminder ~

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  9. I love the phrase: 'eyes that have seen a thousand heartbreaking tomorrows', Sherry, and that noisy silence is deafening. A powerful poem.

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  10. Well said, Sherry--it's a time for warriors, for that clear cold logic of the young mind that knows right from wrong. Our generation wanted the same changes, but lost our way, I fear and deeply regret.

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  11. Those silent screams shatter bones. Now, let's hope they can also shatter stupidity... and willful neglect.

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  12. I hope their voice will continue to reverberate... we need the words of reason, reasonable gun laws don't restrict you, they free you.

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  13. Thank you for this...I shall read it again and again. I watched Emma for those silent minutes and thought... what words could possibly fill this place?....None. But you've spoken about it, of it, around it...to allow me carry those 6.5 minutes with me. When God raises warriors ...it's unmistakable.

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