abusive behavior vs. peaceful demonstration

sometimes
eight years
three months
twelve days
goes by
without
an end
and the
t.v.
just keeps
playing
the same
programs
over
again

other times you stump your toe once
and remember it forever

maybe everything I write ends so abruptly
because everything I don't understand
starts in the same manner

I don't know why the price of gasoline has risen
anymore than I know why we are burying children
in the same fields we dig for oil in

I don't do any research or raise any funds
for the country that bleached our fatigues
or the war that depleted our reserves
I just know that we are tired and we are spent

and I won't speak for you
but I will raise my voice higher than yours
when I say
I don't believe in war
and I don't believe in your kind of prosperity

I believe in people
I believe in wishbones
I believe in urgency
I believe in humility
and a freedom that permits admitting you are wrong
even after it exhausts the possibility of bowing out

gracefully