By Amrita Burdick
By Amrita Burdick
City of Fountains,
Are you weeping,
This day of remembrance?
What seeds have grown to harvest
From the “blighted” soybean field
You purchased and leased
To build nuclear arms to destroy?
Oh, you say,
“But we never use them.
Nuclear weapons are just for deterrence.”
These weapons steal the funds
Needed to feed the children,
Build the roads,
Support the social fabric of our nation.
The “non-nuclear” parts
Leave a trail of wounded workers
Dying early from cancer —
And yet another toxic site
That may never be redeemed.
Oh, weeping city,
You thought that investing to bring jobs
Would bring prosperity.
Have you forgotten?
“Those who live by the sword
Will die by the sword.”
Do you see, oh City of Fountains–
As you add deaths one by one
From city homicides —
You harvest the same violence
You endorsed by placing
Employment and economy
Above justice and peace?
Oh, City that weeps:
If you want peace,
End the culture of violence.
—Amrita Burdick, of Kansas City, Mo., is a longtime PeaceWorks-KC member. This poem was published on the Progressive Hub at https://kcprogressivehub.com/?p=3986.