PAGE 7
NORTH COAST TIMES E A G L E , MAY/JUNE 2002
StLENÏ CALL
They stand tall & they stand mighty
They stand fighting
for their right to live on this earth
but they don’t have voices & they don’t
have words.
And we don’t hear their ancient call
'cuz that’s not what we do in America
No — we don’t listen in America
These trees give us clean air to breathe!
They give us what we need!
& they house birds
& they house squirrels
& they house bugs
& they house bears
& they house us
Yes they house us
People, don’t you understand?
The Mother needs a helping hand!
Because she's given us all that she can
And she’s tired so tired of us wasting the land
These trees give us clean air to breathe!
Give us what we need!
& they house birds
& they house squirrels
& they house bugs
& they house bears
& they house us
People — they house us.
LOVE YOUR MOTHER
KOSOVO
2 MORE SONGS
A POEM ABOUT HOW TO PLAN ONE’S DAY
BY CAROLYN DUNN
The poem was written during the ethnic cleansing
raids that took place in Kosovo in 1999.
A somewhat blurry newspaper close-up photograph
caused me to write the poem. It showed a young father carrying
his pre-school daughter away from one of these early morning
ethnic cleansing raids. I saw the image as an extremely sad
indictment on human ferociousness, which, in its inventiveness
and repetitiveness, share with — but also goes beyond — the
instinctive brutality of some other animals, even the simple
housecat.
We humans are up against the hard and cynical truth
that violence and war are probably not eradicate from this
earth. But the fact that we cannot eradicate violence and war
does not excuse us from the pain and effort of looking at it, and
of trying to think of something better to do with our hours on this
earth.
What do you think the man
with his small daughter
clutched to his beating heart
thought his day
would be like?
Down the road
in rain
in winter
he’s crying
so that his child won’t see or hear,
with her hair at rest against his shirt.
Let’s just say
he didn’t finish his cup of coffee,
he didn’t kiss this child
and run to catch his bus to work.
Cats are sliding around
the borders of my yard;
they startle each other
as they seek the best hunting blinds
under the laurel hedge.
I plan my day.
One of the cats jumps
at the sight of my face at the window.
Two species,
we both hunt
even when we have no hunger.
Young father,
perhaps
we could each plan the day again.
Let’s plan the day. What shall we do,
six billion of us?
Here, let me pass you the cream
for your coffee...
we ll think of things.
We’ll think of something
BY HEATHER CHRISTIE
The last time we printed the lyrics of a few Heather Christie songs
(Octember 2001) the purpose was to look at them as words rather than
synergetic to the music they were written to accompany. She wrote these
two songs purposely acapella
~MPMc
SMATTfPfP
It’s hard bein’ confused
And your feet don’t wanna fit the shoe
And your-mind is goin’ around again.
And you know it’s time to settle down —
and relax — to the day it is.
Don’t stress out over the faults of His.
And kiss someone you really love
Walk to the ocean to unload all that stuff
that’s weighing you down
so heavily.
Take a deep breath of the sea
And give praise to her as she does you,
until the day is filled with truth.
It may be ANGER & it may be RAGE
but go through it all to unlock the cage
for on the other side — if it is there,
will welcome you with windy hair
and give you the distance you also need
and the nourishment for your seed
So I guess it’s not as hard as it seems
to become a part of your beautiful dreams
if you break the barrier of the mind
that only appears to keep you from finding
all of what you need to know
and all the tools to help you sew
the dress of life you wear
so tattered
and put in place what is shattered
CREA TE A DECLARA TION OF EQUALITY
F©Ui®ATD©INI F©l^
(QimAiL simuli
ASTORIA, OREGON
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