As an attempt to express some of my feelings about the events of late I made what I think is a cool piece of art. It moved me to make it.
I got out my American/Peace flag (american flag with peace sign instead of stars) and a black permanent marker.
I used the marker to scrawl lines from the song “American Tune” across the lines of the flag, coming up with something pretty moving. Try and picture that flag, with the following on it
I’m going to anonymously post it in a public place somewhere, maybe even at the capital, I’m not sure.
Any thoughts on this? Anyone else done something similar?
On the night of the attack I had to do some volunteer work. This keeps me in an office for quite some time with nothing to do, so I did a sketch. It was two women whose photographs I’d seen in La Presse. Perhaps you’ve seen this one… one Asian-looking woman in a sleeveless sweater is reaching out her hand in horror, while below and to her left an older white woman with short red hair clasps her hand to her mouth. Anyway, I sketched that photograph, and included a protective verse:
In this fateful hour
I call on all heaven with its power
And the sea with its deepness
And the rocks with their steepness
And the snow with its whiteness
And the sky with its brightness
And the lightning with its rapid wrath
And the fire with all the strength it hath
And the winds with their swiftness along their path
And the earth with its starkness
And the night with its darkness
All these I place
As a shield in time and space
Between us and those who would harm us.
While we’re on the subject of poetry inspired by Tuesday, I wrote this in my Augustan Age class today.
When the words come I can’t block them.
9/11
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Here the wound, but where the stained
mark from the blood of hate and
rage?
Here we are now; here we stand,
heads held high to face the coward,
in our minds memorial flowered.
Six thousand bags are coming here-
death surrounds us, front and rear.
Yet in the midst of grief and pain
let us not from joy abstain.
Celebrate the lives we shared.
Papers show our tempers flared;
people beaten, killed for how
they look or dress. Do not allow
all this to multiply in hate;
we all must heal. It’s not too late.
We will rebuild, but first to find
all who are trapped, dead or alive.
For them we must, with them we will for all eternity survive.
I’m still waiting for a picture that matches this poem. I’ll put it on my webpage if I can, and if not I’ll link to it.
Awww, come on Bear! It’s not gonna kill me, what is your actual reaction to this? I think that making the comment you did is actually more vexing than actually posting your negative reaction. “Assuming innocence”, huh? Well, gosh, was it criminal, or what?