Through the Generations by Mary Susan Gast
It was during that
Berserker era of
Mutually Assured Destruction,
That my daughter began to
Walk
Upon the earth.
Stumbling in on
Overly adult
Conversations,
Burdened
With translations
Of the annihilation
Assured by mega tonnage
Into stunned and broken human
Terms,
She slept without nightmares,
Confident that her parents,
On high alert,
Would keep her and all the world
Safe.
Her child now turns to me,
Wearing her face,
Possessed of her intensity,
Animated by her energy,
Heir to the family lore
Of confrontation,
And asks,
With a 4-year-old’s
Sweetness and directness,
“Grandma,
Can we stop a war together
Sometime?”
Now that you’ve read the poem, here is a commentary by Benicia Patch Poetry Maestro Jeff Burkhart:
Mary Susan Gast is a friend of mine and frequent contributor to "the Friday Poem.” During this season of Lent and Easter with all it means to Christians everywhere, I think it is fitting and proper to examine forgiveness. Today’s poem, “Through the Generations” looks at man’s persistence to find new ways to kill each other, through the eyes of a child. Overhearing adults worry over the concept of “Mutually Assured Destruction,” a little girl poses a question to her grandmother. She asks her if they could stop a war together sometime. It’s a great image. The oldest and youngest of us banding together in order to save the rest of the world from themselves. I wish it were that easy. Maybe it is. We’ll never know until we try. I guess all we can do this Easter season is to wish our two unlikely saviors and the world, luck and best wishes.
I will leave you with a poem of my own.
At What Cost Freedom
Young men fight for freedom die
Their spirits float into the sky
Families mourn and mothers cry
The doubters ask the reason why
The leaders send the young ones go
To stand and fight another foe
To make the world a better place
God forgive the human race
Jeff Burkhart
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