even a fifteen day fast

against war
with another eleven days
to go
couldn’t shake the frat boys
into anything close to
what’s beyond their next beer

but some were reached
like a weepy eyed grandmother
some veterans
a whole lotta
deep hippies
deep green
deep believers
a new counterculture revolution
earth goddess gaia
to jesusmohammedmoses

we stand
with the fasters
not fasting ourselves
a military recruiter
gazes away quick
maybe thinking why
they’re still here
trucks & buses spit
unburned diesel
over crowded streets
emerging & broken dreams
the here & now
is the message
don’t wanna
even visualize
a resurrection

--- e b bortz

(published in The New People, Nov 2007)