I must interrupt my poetic ramblings about my mountain sojourns

to honor the fifth anniversary of all those standing up to injustice

and speaking out against the illegal occupation and slaughter

of the Iraqis and their homeland.

WHOSE WAR IS THIS

Whose war is this and who

owns the occupation?

Not the sick, the wounded or the poor

the unemployed and the elderly with

their benefits cut off or

the homeless whose population

keeps growing.

Whose war is this and who

owns the occupation?

Not the war torn civilians and casualties

over in Iraq,

not the US soldiers who will never

come back

or the ones that do receive no medical aide

but are missing an arm or leg and

a brain and shell shocked beyond

recovery anytime soon.

Whose war is this and who

owns the occupation?

Not the children who will be paying for this war

in taxes for decades to come

and not the churches who preach the gospel

in Jesus name

not those who have listened to

Martin Luther King

and march for justice and

equality of all beings.

Whose war is this and who

owns the occupation?

Not the children who have been taught

to love their brothers and sisters

everywhere in the world

not the strong and courageous who stand up

to injustice and hatred.


Whose war is this and who

owns the occupation?

Not those who respect life and the earth

not the mothers who are about to

or have just given birth

and those who have chosen

not to.

Whose war is this and who

owns the occupation?

Not those who believe in true democracy

and those who work towards energy dependency

not those who try to protect our land, water and our air

and not those who believe free trade should be fair

not those who labor too many hours for

such little pay

and not those who envision

a better way.

Whose War is this and who

owns the occupation?

Not the working man or woman or the well educated

or the uneducated and those less fortunate

finding it hard to make ends meet

not the small business owner nor the teacher the gardener

the fireman and the social worker and the care giver

and the common man and woman

on the street.

Whose war is this and who

owns the occupation?

Those who reap the profits from oil

and stocks in military defense

those big media conglomerates

the energy company swindlers

and global empire builders.

Whose war is this and who

owns the occupation?

The admirals and generals in the Pentagon

and the hawks who have never fought

in a war at all

and the CEOs who live in billionaire

gated communities but still

want more.

Whose war is this and who

owns the occupation?

Those that are afraid of life and afraid to die

and live in constant fear and do not dream

those who do not know what it is like

to be a good human being

and do not understand what the words

love and compassion really mean.