are we now to become
no more than yesterday’s phantasms?
specters drifting across a barren landscape
too foolish to pay any heed
to the errors of our fathers
those men who fought or fell
by a madman’s selfish hand
where they were gathered
& ruthlessly enslaved
too many completely erased
living on in the nightmares
of just a few surviving souls
mourning the unforgotten existence
of memories buried in unmarked graves….
or gone up in rancid smoke
as the ovens of terror continually blazed
for the madness rabidly spreading
a deadly infection
growing in eager weak minds
the hatred so casual
deeming many unworthy
based on no more than color
…heritage…
creed
taking lives & treasures with equal greed
have our eyes grown so dim
they cannot see backward
to the horror our past has been
& learn from our history?
not make the same horrendous mistakes
giving power to senseless cruelty
setting in motion the very same train
am I the only one truly afraid?
have we not even noticed?
events taking place today
are different
& yet…
too much the same
have we not yet understood?
hope cannot be found in hateful hearts
& futures die…
when hope gives way
That for me is the best thing you’ve ever posted.
Fear is what the rotten folks want us to feel as we become easier to manipulate.
I read and listen and weep for us all but then I put it aside, find a nice warm spot outside and marvel.
Don’t let the bastards grind you down.
This piece is a work of heart and art.👍
The irony is that I wrote this one in 2019. It’s just as…if not more…relevant today. I keep a ready eye on it but I also keep beauty & love as close as possible. I can’t help but wonder…as long as there are humans, will it always be dark times? Thank you
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor E. Frankl
Inhumanity has never been able to erase humanity. Love is too strong.
I can’t even begin to express what your comment means to me. It’s the glimmers that keep us going & the sparks that keep the fire lit. Thank you
I can’t speak for other places but here in the West, the majority of people have no idea where they came from or why they do things. We have everything at the touch of a button….parts & products that are part & parcel of this Beast System that gives us round the clock heating and air-conditioning and movies & songs & poetry sites all in an instant…a system which must collapse at some point. Guess who gets to live through this calamity? Yep, you ‘n me lol. Could be the end of the world…as we know it anyway.
So true. Now I have that song in my head…Thank you
Powerfully penned, Willow. Into the book it belongs! We are definitely kindred spirts my friend. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, that we keep repeating the same mistakes, never learning from history. Spitting facts on this one, excellent write as always. Top notch! Appreciate you.
Damian
Sadly, this isn’t even a new write. From the last time the cheeto soiled the oval office. So disheartening. But…& it’s a big but…I see more outcries & uprising this time. That alone gives me hope. Thank you, my friend
It’s like people have forgot their humanity. I also hate this whole trying to erase history. History is ugly but it’s truth is how we learn. Fabricating the past will only guaranteed repeating it.
Great ink, friend.
They’re trying to erase history so there’s no backtrail on the atrocities they intend to return to. They don’t want the playbook in circulation. The only reason to erase history is to repeat it. Too many of us are “woke” though & I’m seeing a lot more resistance to the system than before. This isn’t new. Just new faces to the same old hates. Thank you, my friend
I agree that they are trying to erase history so the future generations can not learn from mistakes made in the past. I was watching a movie where a woman hid a book of her family’s history so she can teach her children what happened and where they came from and I fear that we may have to hide our history so we can educate in secret and that is sad.
I was thinking about how much of my family history went to the grave with my grandparents because nobody besides me took interest in asking about it. I see the erasure of history in this country & it terrifies me. Oral history & snatching what history books already exist in order to hide & protect them for future generations looks more & more like the reality we’re approaching. I guess that’s where we come in…words are our gift. Lay them bare. Can’t bury us all & our words. Thank you
Fantastic work. Right on.
Thank you 😊