Immediately after 9/11 happened, The Daily Herald (where I worked at the time) was bombarded with poetry written by locals who apparently believed that, in times of national emergency, The Daily Herald became a literary journal. We had a long-standing policy of not publishing poetry (most papers do), so the opinions page editor just gave them to me. He figured I’d want to collect them, since I have a fondness for bad art. Periodically, I will post some of them here on the blog.
It is not the sentiments expressed in these poems that I find amusing, of course. It’s the poor way in which they are expressed. If you want to pour out your soul in poetry in your journal, that’s fine. But to send it to a newspaper, hoping it will be published, suggests that you actually think it has some artistic merit. Which none of these do, or at least not much.
This first one is actually one of the better ones. Enjoy.
Life Goes On
by L. Carvel Wilson
The flag still flies, school is in,
Planes will fly, we’ll begin again,
Cement, steel sealed in hallowed blood,
Shed by cowards ever present flood.
Hidden men with yellow hearts,
Have no idea what they start,
Today our nation quietly mourns,
Tomorrow like a Phoenix reborn.
We pause, remembrance bitter sweet,
Of time now past and innocence fleet,
Tears still fall and families bleed,
As the World sees freedom’s need.
Sadness wars with rage and grief,
As we turn to God for his relief,
United we stand as life goes on,
We’ll fight until, at last, we’ve won.
