By John Reuwer, World BEYOND War, December 22, 2021
Like the Grinch that stole Christmas,
this plane steals my dreams
of a pristine Vermont
with its forests and streams.
I dream of clean air
while these planes spit and spout,
fifteen tons of carbon
each hour they’re out.
I dream of clean water
while PFAS fills our streams,
from the Guard’s fear of fire
from those ghastly machines.
I long for the quiet
to work or relax
but the rumble of jets
breaks my calm like an axe.
My ears hurt and ring,
as my windows do rattle
while my viscera shakes
as the Guard plans for battle.
New Americans in town
are shocked by the blast.
like war in their homelands
they thought was long past.
I dream of a world
where schools are for all
where trains are not creaky
and bridges don’t fall.
Speaking of fall…
What if they crash?
Oh, that won’t happen?
Five already are ash!
I long for a country
without lead in its pipes,
where hospitals don’t bankrupt,
and good care stops our gripes.
I long for a country
that seriously takes
pandemics and climate,
for all of our sakes.
“We can’t build back better –
No money!” sounds sour
when 10 jets cost a billion,
then 400,000 an hour.
Some think that these jets
make the nation secure.
But they can’t fix most troubles,
and that is for sure.
They can’t stop a nuke,
or terrorist attacks
as flying computers
they’re subject to hacks.
Sure there are threats,
some things we abhor.
yet all could be bettered
by things other than war.
I dream of world peace,
especially this season.
These planes are the opposite
beyond all I can reason.
Jobs are important,
their loss would be sad.
But with this kind of money,
far more jobs could be had.
I dream we had voice
to have them or not.
We voted them out,
yet they still are our lot.
So Patrick and Bernie
We are shouting out loud.
Take this awful Grinch from us,
And make us all proud.
3 Responses
Military spending already is bloated and unhinged and the Pentagon unaudited.
As mentioned in the third last verse, more jobs can be created in most other sectors of the economy than in the military-industrial complex. So Patrick and Bernie get with it!
I love Bernie, but he can (and had better) evolve, so this poem is a needed reminder.
The only problem I can see with de-basing the F-35 from Vermont is that we Alaskans have a couple of Senators who would love to bring them here.
I had heard that Sanders betrayed Vermont and us and now I understand what that’s about. This shakes my respect for him. We need him to get rid of Lockheed’s influence on this nation and the world. In a world beyond war, Lockheed Martin wouldn’t exist to make killing machines. It would use its capital and brilliant engineering workforce to devise clean sustainable energy and transportation systems to benefit humankind.