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by Timothy Gerken
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It is too easy to ignore the wars
I am guilty of looking the other way:
the red house finch in the green
leaves is not a blood stain
the gold finch is not a toy truck
atop of a pile of rubble
the Maple tree is not a sniper stand;
the words of war can not grow like goldenrod
or wild lilies and that should never change
twenty-two years ago I wrote
37 letters to soldiers’ families
to be signed by the base General
and it was not even a time of war;
the violence of young men
the corruption of old men
consistent over time
must change
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