by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator
Today is the seventy-fourth anniversary of the surprise Japanese attack on our Pacific naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - a day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt said would "live in infamy." It was the event which drew us into World War II.
There is a memorial to the attack on the island of Oahu at the USS Arizona, a battleship which was struck on that day and lies mostly submerged in the harbor. On a path leading to the memorial there is a small poem, a prayer actually, that was carried by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt throughout the war. The piece has no actual title, but I have chosen to caption it with its last line, "Am I Worth Dying For." The poet is anonymous.
One this day more than seven decades later when it appears as though certain political forces within the United States are trying to stampede us into yet another war, I thought the following lines to be well worth quiet consideration.
Am I Worth Dying For
by Anonymous
Dear Lord,
Lest I continue
My complacent way
Help me to remember
Somehow out there
A man died for me today.
As long as there be war,
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?
Will we march into the maw of death to save our people or our homeland, as we did in World War II, or will be gamble our national pride and treasure simply to sustain and profit our war industry?
Poetry Appreciator
Today is the seventy-fourth anniversary of the surprise Japanese attack on our Pacific naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - a day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt said would "live in infamy." It was the event which drew us into World War II.
There is a memorial to the attack on the island of Oahu at the USS Arizona, a battleship which was struck on that day and lies mostly submerged in the harbor. On a path leading to the memorial there is a small poem, a prayer actually, that was carried by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt throughout the war. The piece has no actual title, but I have chosen to caption it with its last line, "Am I Worth Dying For." The poet is anonymous.
One this day more than seven decades later when it appears as though certain political forces within the United States are trying to stampede us into yet another war, I thought the following lines to be well worth quiet consideration.
Am I Worth Dying For
by Anonymous
Dear Lord,
Lest I continue
My complacent way
Help me to remember
Somehow out there
A man died for me today.
As long as there be war,
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?
Will we march into the maw of death to save our people or our homeland, as we did in World War II, or will be gamble our national pride and treasure simply to sustain and profit our war industry?
No comments:
Post a Comment