Angry Man
Wow. I’m starting to feel like the Editor of a very cool literary mag. Maybe Spouse and I will move to a loft in Greenwich Village and order in Chinese every night and I’ll wear chinos and shoes without socks when we go Off-Broadway.
Or, maybe I’ll quit daydreaming and publish yet another gorgeous piece of imaginative writing from a BuFoon, this time BuFoon John.
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As you read John’s introduction to his haunting poem, “Angry Man,” I remind you that this gentle man gives hours and hours every month to serving his fellow veterans, volunteering at a healthcare clinic, helping in any way he can. He’s relentless in his caring.
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When you read ”Angry Man” it will become obvious to you that I am a Vietnam Veteran.
I am also one of those lucky Native Americans who hold a dual citizenship with Canada and the U.S.. My home Rez (aka “reservation”) is in upstate New York and crosses that line known as the Canadian/U.S. border. So why didn’t I go to Canada instead of going into the U.S. Navy/Marines? Native Americans’ pride in their country is perhaps stronger than any of all the nationalities in this grand nation. After all, they have been here the longest. They loved their country before the Europeans. They respected and cared for it and call it Mother. After the Europeans and after the broken treaties and creation of reservations, they still love their country: respect, love, and still call Her Mother.
My Grandfather, Father, Uncles, and Brothers, and all my male cousins and some of the female as well, served in the military: either the U.S. Navy, Marines or in the Canadian Military. My Grandfather served in both the Canadian and the U.S. Navies. So it is that I too served out of respect for my relatives and for my country.
It is out of respect for all Veterans that I have written this to hopefully shed some light into the ghosts we now carry. War creates so many ghosts for veterans that only another veteran can understand. This is my attempt to show non-veterans a glimpse of those ghosts.
War is never the answer. I think wars should be fought by the politicians that declare them. Hold a Super Bowl and bring in the Politicians, armed with paintball equipment, and have it out, while the rest of us cheer for one side or the other in the stands. Kind of like feeding Christians to the Lions in the Arena: that is without killing even the lions. Can’t you just see it? President Obama and Bin Laden having it out with a Paint Ball battle in the Super Bowl Dome?
Not realistic you say? Better than killing innocent people, better than creating Ghosts to linger a lifetime and after. Better than a lifetime of weeping for all concerned.
John Joseph
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AN ANGRY MAN
John Joseph Feb 27-2010
The 1960’s
Flower Children,
Haight Ashbury,
Woodstock,
Timothy O’Leary,
Peter, Paul and Mary,
Iron Butterfly’s In A Gadda Da Vida,
Joan Baez,
Buffy St. Marie,
To mention a few.
Time of innocence,
Protest the War.
War In Vietnam;
Not a War,
Police Action,
Stop the Commies.
Where have all the Flowers Gone,
Kent State.
Stop the War in South East Asia,
Wage War on Universities,
Stop the Free Thinkers,
Might be Commies.
If I Had a Hammer,
Hammer out Justice.
Go To Canada,
Go to Norway, Sweden,
Escape Military Draft.
Grandfathers, Fathers, Uncles and Brothers,
Served our country
Proud to fallow their direction.
No Veterans No Free America.
Solders coming home,
Some wounded,
Some finish their tour.
Visions of war stamped deep
Into the psyche.
No Hero’s welcome,
Throw that garbage
At the baby killers,
And
War Mongers.
Throw the garbage
At the Traumatized,
Throw the garbage,
Increase their anger,
At the war machine,
Add to the psychological damage.
Cause more confusion.
Beware
Crazy, Veterans from Vietnam
Beware of those Angry Men.
Amnesty
For those who chose Canada,
Sweden, and other places.
Who will give amnesty
To the Veterans who chose Country First?
Desert Storm,
Afghanistan,
Iraq,
More Police Action?
Or War?
More Trauma
More Angry men.
They’re not Crazy,
Those Angry Men,
Aren’t
Yelling, screaming,
Or roaring,
They’re Weeping.
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Whatever your view of war in general and any war in particular, John’s introduction and poem speak volumes about FORGIVENESS. The native peoples, by serving in our military services with such honor and distinction, demonstrate love and forgiveness in the most dramatic and real way imaginable. They offer up their lives, as do all who serve in time of war. Many of us have not shown proper regard and respect and honor for this.
Cheers,
BuFoon Steve
