Laura Bush afraid of Poets

by The Guardian (UK) / Sarah Left Saturday, Feb. 01, 2003 at 12:09 AM

The First Lady (wasn't that Eve?) was afraid to continue with a Whitehouse poetry reading when it turned out that most of the poets don't like murdering children. The URL tells part of the story. Sam Hamill's poem here tells it all.

State of the Union, 2003

I have not been to Jerusalem,

but Shirley talks about the bombs.

I have no god, but have seen the children praying

for it to stop. They pray to different gods.

The news is all old news again, repeated

like a bad habit, cheap tobacco, the social lie.



The children have seen so much death

that death means nothing to them now.

They wait in line for bread.

They wait in line for water.

Their eyes are black moons reflecting emptiness.

We've seen them a thousand times.



Soon, the president will speak.

He will have something to say about bombs

and freedom and our way of life.

I will turn the TV off. I always do.

Because I can't bear to look

at the monuments in his eyes.



Sam Hamill

Original: Laura Bush afraid of Poets