I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.
John F. Kerry
March In Washington Against The Vietnam War
by Robert Bly
Looking down, I see feet moving calmly, gaily,
. . almost as if separated from their bodies
But there is something moving in the dark just beyond
. . the edge of our eyes
A boat covered with machine guns moving downstream at night
No one can reach it – – – it is like the shadows
when the Puritans went out at dusk to kill turkeys
America explodes
On the ground, ragged metal riddles the underbrush
We do not respect ourselves!
It is a ceremony of self-abusement,
Like a man in the Assyrian desert
Pouring ashes over his head. . .
We make war
Like a man anointing himself. . .
[Sonnet] You jerk you didn’t call me up
By Bernadette Mayer
You jerk you didn’t call me up
I haven’t seen you in so long
You probably have a fucking tan
& besides that instead of making love tonight
You’re drinking your parents to the airport
I’m through with you bourgeois boys
All you ever do is go back to ancestral comforts
Only money can get—even Catullus was rich but
Nowadays you guys settle for a couch
By a soporific color cable t.v. set
Instead of any arc of love, no wonder
The G.I. Joe team blows it every other time
Wake up! It’s the middle of the night
You can either make love or die at the hands of the Cobra Commander
_________________
To make love, turn to page 121.
To die, turn to page 172.
Fourteen Lines 