Hello, Neighbor!

HELLO, NEIGHBOR!

Hello, neighbor!

I once did shout

across fence of field and glen

as southern breezes

played through wood

of cotton, oak, and pine.

Hello, neighbor

to the North,

I cannot hear reply.

Stomach-swelled

with musket shot

your hello-back is silent.

Hello, neighbor!

Can’t you see

my hand raised in friendly greeting?

It may be difficult,

‘twas taken at the shoulder

by a volley of cannon fire.

Hello, neighbor!

Though you’re gone

your cause has won the day.

I lay dead

and freedom reigns

Or so we thought….

Hello, Neighbor!

Well met! How are you?

Have you come to admire the poppies?

They’re hard to pick out

in a field of blood

that once filled my brothers and friends.

Hello, Neighbor!

‘Tis a great gathering!

We’ve come to see such a sight.

Bodies stacked high

in deep, rotting trenches.

They call this grand ball civilized?

Hello, Neighbor!

What gifts you’ve brought me!

Yellow gas, orange flame, a death mask.

There’s a cut at your throat

your pallor is white

like the Edelweiss pinned to your coat.

Hello, Neighbor!

Will we meet again?

Has this insanity come to an end?

How could there be

a hell worse than this?

The earth itself is stained.

Hello, Neighbor,

filled with such zeal

led by a madman’s ideals.

You promised we’d be

the best of friends.

Is that a tank I see?

Hello, Neighbor!

Must we move?

We’ve lived here for so very long.

What’s a ghetto? A work camp?

I say, these train cars are getting

quite cramped.

Hello, Neighbor!

What is that smell?

Is that snow falling from sky?

It’s not white, but grey

It saddens me.

I don’t know why

but I am afraid of the showers….

Hello, Neighbor,

filled with hate.

Why have you murdered a race?

Are you human?

Are we neighbors?

Are we all capable of such darkness?

Hello, Neighbor,

far to the East,

proud and difficult to know.

I’m still uncertain

how I can help

or whether you really want it.

Hello, Neighbor,

with culture so rich

and weather so hot I am sick.

I’m missing my home

You miss your freedom

Just lay down your arms and we’ll leave.

Hello, Neighbor!

I’m enjoying my lunch.

What a sweet young boy you are

A shoeshine? Absolutely.

Why is everybody running?

Is that a grenade?

Hello, Neighbor!

I don’t know you,

I would like to.

Your culture so different than mine

I don’t share your ideals

I don’t pray as you do

but I’d like to invite you to stay.

Hello, Neighbor!

Didn’t that sound nice?

What a shame it’s not very true.

Bloodshed, mistrust,

greed, envy, and strife;

neighbors, bedfellows all.

Hello, Neighbor!

Just taken my life

and I have just taken yours.

Perhaps next time

children play among the poppies

they will learn to lay down their arms.