*****

Recorded Reading (1:13):

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/nu9v5yk2gqnnoreabnyip/Threnody-for-Peacetime.mp3?rlkey=tsv39t97tp6w1tn13gvrb744f&st=s8e5n37d&dl=0

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Threnody for Peacetime

We had running water
So sweet ~ crystal clear ~
Without decompositional
Pollutants to fear

We had food in plenty
~ Just went to the store
With amounts of money which
Won’t buy much any more

We had milk and honey
We had aging wine
Coffee and tobacco,
Buildings straight and fine

Standing upon streets kept paved
For luxurious ride
Without a rifle-toting
Guardian right by our side

In absence of bombing
We heard birdsong in the day
And crickets in the night
And if we had something to say

We’d say it without screaming it
In tones we murmured low
And quiet to each other
Calm closeness thus to know

We had homes to return to
And cars we drove with pride
And me ~ what was it that I had?
~ I had you by my side.

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This poet/editor is physically disabled, and lives at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level.

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