This is a Memorial Day poem I penned in honor of all the parents whose children have committed suicide. I know my writing falls far short; this is something I am just not qualified to understand. But now and then Vince comes home with stories about things said to him, or done to him by others. I honestly believe that bullies are multi-generational; I believe they take up positions of power in schools, offices, and administrations, and they model this behavior (that sometimes pays off quite well) to their own children.

Being different is a full time and very dangerous job, especially if you are a child. If you are unique, competitive, talented, or extremely smart, you will sometimes become a target. Sometimes I put myself (I try anyway) in the position of a parent desperate to help their child...if the structure in place fails this parent, sometimes the losses are unfathomable. Just the thought of something like this happening to us makes me sick.

I entered my poem in the Boston Review's poetry contest, a venue completely out of my league; but, it's fun to dream. Not only that, I feel like at this time of the year, with school wrapping up, we should renew our dedication to eradicating this social ill.

I love you all, and thanks for tolerating me, my differences, my problems, and my ambitions…I am truly a lucky woman.

Have fun in the water this weekend, and remember everyone who has passed before us.

A Life Left to Mourn

If only in my child I could find a smile again,

Watching his lips, shining bright teeth, the fine brown hair
fluttering in the wind,

My fingertips followed a trail from under his lids, across
his cheeks, to the bottom of his chin.

His tears once flowed against his tan colored skin so cool,

Palms pressed against his ears, words he dreaded, in the
hollow of his throat a salty pool,

Choking him, lies and fists battering him, he bravely drags
his bloody backpack home from school.

Together we contemplated the climb before us,

Dreamily, he journeyed beside me, an icon of innocent
childhood trust,

His sweet broken heart—his soul—his prayers for peace fly
free from the bullies’ angry bloodlust.

Drearily, the mist drips into raindrops over the sacred pine
needle-covered ground.

Helpless, I cry.

No political slogan in recent memory is as vaporous, meaningless, and divisive as Take Back Our Country. Shouted repeatedly by the Tea Partiers like a battle cry to the Alamo of  future Armageddon, regarded as a last chance to save America, and grossly understated, yet overstated, its negative message is what Orwell warned us about in his essay On Politics and the English Language. 

Recently, I asked my 12-year old child what he thought of the slogan's internal meaning. He said, "It sounds like they want to get the country back from the president." I honestly believe it is in retaliation for earlier commentary by democratic free thinkers who argue power is unfairly in the favor of elite business, and they dared to proclaim anti-Bush sentiments. Whatever the logic behind this vapid and useless statement, it has caused irreparable harm to our feelings of community, and helped create a negative political atmosphere beyond anything previously experienced. This slogan insinuates that some of us are in possession of something we do not own, the country. Like Palin's little crosshair map, it is incendiary in nature, destructive, and completely negative and erroneous.

In Texas, we are subjected to a Republican battle for a Senate seat. I don't care for either candidate...to me one is just as bland as the other. David Dewhurst, successful businessman, spokesman, rancher, lieutinent governor, is running against lawyer Ted Cruz. Dewhurst must have a huge war chest; we have to look at his message nearly everytime we are in front of a television. He is definitely going to balance the budget, take our country back, and hurl us in reverse to the much better 1950's as soon as he gets full power. The words, "Take Our Country Back" slip from his lips as easily as a wad of snot, and sound equally as obscene.

You can tell he will do what he says he will. Dewhurst always keeps his word, even though he isn't brave like his father--according to his own television testimonial. But, I promise, if someone pressured him to explain his slogan, his response would echo across the top of an empty barrel. He lacks, as well as the TeaParty, no possible logical response. The country is not taken.

Since it is an election year, I encourage everyone to get back into George Orwell. Think about the world, the words used, and the connection between what is realistic, and what is voluminous wisps of vaporous bull crappie. We are Americans, and we have unlimited media resources. We can educate ourselves to recognize the ridiculous. Our country already belongs to us...it hasn't slipped into the grip of something horrible. We have a president that cares, and we have a congress that is only concerned with preserving itself. Remember...1984 by George Orwell. Read his Politics and the English Language before you study this important novel again. It will all make sense... then you will be disgusted too.