"A Belated Protest Song"
(written in the '70s)
I sit here thinking of the days gone by,
And wish I could break down and cry.
So much killing, so many wars!
Pretty soon, there's going to be some more.
Watching people die.
Heartbreak, hunger and barren fields,
Little kids starving ... talking big money deals.
Saigon government, then D.C.
On to Geneva and formal tea.
Like terror wasn't real.
Sitting here in front of my TV,
Wondering why the Lord loves me.
Ice box's full, paid next month's rent,
Inflation's almost heaven sent.
Watching people die--
And I can't even cry.
Written in the late 1960s or early 70s, this song was never performed. It was the age of ballads and protest songs, and I wrote some, too. This one was still in my notebook, some forty or more years later. — Liz (Wicker) Bennefeld
Quilted Poetry 