The poetry of Michael Murry
RSS- Tit for tat until it all goes boom
- Deadly H5N1 avian influenza strain detected on mainland Antarctica
- “BYD is launching its next-gen Blade EV battery soon with more range and even lower cost”
- Iran launches air attacks on Israel
- ISW on the developing Ukrainian defense industrial base and Russias strikes on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure
- Britain? Kaput! By Walrus.
- Declaration “Dignitas Infinita” on Human Dignity
- The situation and some possible courses of action … A Pat Lang post reposted from 26 February 2022
- HARPER: COL. W. PATRICK LANG R.I.P.
- A Note On Our Folly By Walrus
Fnord!
Michael..
Good Stuff..Have found your writings Entertaining.
Takes Talent (A Gift) and Wisdom to Mix satire,humor..prose,poetry
and philosophy the Way you do..
Adds a Nice Touch to Pats Web site..(Thanks Pat)
We need this Type of balance to OUR Forum..as We Focus on the Problems at Hand..We still Need a Laugh..and Moderation..while we Relax over a glass of JD and Soda..
Keep up the Good Work Michael..Who Needs the Media?? We Got Mike..and Pat and Good Friends who like a Good Conversation
My thanks to all who have made such kind and generous comments. Credit has to go to Pat Lang for putting up with the jaundiced Post Vietnam Traumatic Syndrome from which I have suffered and learned over the past thirty-five years. I appreciate his offer of a place to put some of my poetry.
Like many of my generation, I had problems discussing Vietnam with my parents (mother and stepfather) who could not get over their WWII experience of having a government they could trust to care about their welfare and lead them to victory in an honest, necessary struggle. I basically agreed with the boxer Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) who said: “I ain’t got nothin’ against no Viet Cong.” Mom would ask: “Who will protect us from our enemies if you don’t?” I would answer (because I couldn’t vote in those days): “Who will protect me from my own government if you don’t?” We had lots of conversations like that.
I never got over what I saw and did during my almost six years in Uncle Sam’s Canoe Club — especially the last eighteen months in Vietnam. Mom kept trying to help me adjust by giving sound, loving advice that I, of course, chose to ignore. My favorite line from her:
“As a woman, of course I hold grudges. But unlike you, son, I limit mine to a maximum of ten years.”
Now that she has passed away, I sure wish I could read some of my poetry to her as a way of showing how remembering can sometimes turn a lifetime grudge into something worthwhile. I think she’d approve, even though we never saw eye-to-eye about the whole “patriotism” thing and never would. Some differences in experience simply don’t translate.
Anyway, I got up this morning and went to work for a few hours writing another poem. This one I call “America the Dutiful” which finished up at about 20 stanzas of four lines each. I’ll send it to Pat as an e-mail attachment. He can then use his best judgment about what to do with the whole thing.
Thanks again for the encouragement. I’ll try to prove worthy of it.
Thanks for the link