I propose a moment of silence
for each person who died in South East Asia
last week,
When the Oceans rose and covered mountains
and the Heavens looked away.
A moment for each and every fatality
-regardless of their race or origin; they all died
the same.
A moment for every man, woman and child, store owner and businessman
tourist and vacationer
who lost a life that day...
For all of the more than one-hundred fifty-thousand
a moment of silence, apiece.
And while we are all standing silent,
I wish to dedicate another moment
to the Troops still stationed in Iraq
-Who were promised leave the Christmas before last,
and did not abandon their country
when their country abandoned them
with listless resignation.
Also, a moment each for every casualty in Iraq;
now 10,000 and still climbing...
A moment each for the 1350 fatalities since the start of the war,
and a moment for each of the 10,000+ wounded.
A moment for each and every man and woman killed in war.
This is a poem for the first
and the last
and everyone in between.
This is a poem for the 101st
and the 150,000th.
This is a poem for 1942 and 1492,
911, 912 and 913,
For 1967 and 1917,
For 1776 and 1699
-This is a poem for all of them
-For each and every
-For the troops
and huddled masses of civilians
forever immortalized in the history books
As anonymous statistics.
This poem goes out to all
-To each and every one
-To all and every
-Not forgetting one.
And for all of them
A century of silence.
A million years of silence for the people who organize wars and lead innocent men into the pits of Hell,
force Nations into chaos,
and put brothers on opposite sides of a Civil war.
A billion years for the victims of such wars,
and a millennium for the people whose scars shall never heal.
And finally, an Eternity of silence of for All of mankind,
Be silent, for goodness sake, and let us deafen those
who murder with speech,
Let us mute those who muted us
and stop those who kill our own.
Let us be silent for ever - for as long as it takes.
Let your lawnmowers run silent and your floors be still...
Don't disturb the dead...
Shhh...
Let us be silent indefinitely,
like all of our dead are for us.
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