by Alan Catlin
Lone warrior
on Manhattan
Island beach
observing long
ships, sailors
from who-knew
where navigating
toward soon-
to-be harbor
site; the first
foreign terrorists
have arrived
The painting that inspired this poem may be seen in the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA.
Alan Catlin's latest chapbook is a long poem, "Thou Shalt Not Kill", an updating of Rexroth's seminal poem of the same name. Whereas Rexroth riffs on the abuses of the Eisenhower adminstration, the update observes abuses of power in the current administration with particular attention to the cynical, criminal behavior towards the Katrina hurricane victims. One year later, the victims are not forgotten. No matter how many candles the Bushes light, the appalling lack of humanity and the blatant hypocrisy of the folks in charge is as apparent as the disenfranchised, the homeless, and the poverty stricken people of the Gulf states.