by Alan Catlin
Weekly peace
vigil
given new
impetus
by his words
protest signs
say:
Bringing the troops
home means saving
lives more troops
means more lives
lost
Stop the lies
Christ was no
killer
Pickup truck slows
at corner to engage
people for peace
in meaningful dialogue
says,
"Go fuck yourself"
Sums up the latest
presidential speech
foreign policy
objective
in one short phrase
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.