Monday, November 10, 2008

Don't Burn the Flag, Wash it!

George, when you smile your confident smirk remember this; it is the sneer of a failed monarch in a country of presidents.
~ The Poetry Man




That's the title of Mark Prime's compilation of poems, with cover artwork by the equally talented artist, Ben Heine.

Wash The Flag, Don't Burn it is a collection of 165 poems about peace, war, justice and liberty. Mark Prime is known to a lot of us in the blogosphere simply as Poetryman. He is the author of A Poetic Justice and started the Peace Tree, a blog that features the writing of several people including my own occasional contributions.

Every time I open the book, I do so randomly. Here is the first poem I turned to today.

TOM

They grow closer together each passing day
You know the vine I mean
The knitting of nature, green
Canopy aloft with life
Even when it's not
They tussle together like schoolchildren
Holding tight the other's hand
Moving 'cross the ground, trees
Weaving a needlepoint of intricacy
Tapping into new little worlds
Breathing time into tiny planets
The labor is far from over
Heavens hold lips in wait

And the less subtle, more powerful voice of this poem:

The War on Peace

When men squander their waking lives
God-jawing 'bout peace intent on war
The world's roads will soon be ruined
In man's self-strewn ambush
And our cities will crouch like snipers
Shelling their own decayed manifestation
Humanity then becomes the blinded child
Searching recklessly for its original eyes

It was hard to pick which poems to feature in this post; there are so many good ones. That is why it became necessary for me to choose them randomly. There is power, love, passion, anger without bitterness, clarity and real talent in this collection.

I'm pleased and proud to count Mark among my blog friends. I admire him not only for his talent as a poet but for his ability to live the life of a peaceful human being. It shows in his every word. Thanks Mark, for what you bring tirelessly to the blogosphere on a daily basis.

9 comments:

  1. A great post, love the poems, thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will have to go out and buy that book now :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such talents, both of them!

    Thanks for sharing these.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow... I am humbled by your praise my dearest Pagan Sphinx.

    I was beginning to think that "Don't Burn the Flag. Wash it!" was going to go the way of the Bush Administration and be relegated to an afterthought filled with angst, rage, and occasional tears... Thank you for reminding even me that I have a book out there in the ether. Come 2009 I should be coming out with several more.

    Peace,
    Mark

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh... thank you, sylvia.

    Liberality,
    I do hope you enjoy it.

    cunningrunt,
    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm going to get it too!

    I lurk at Poetryman's place but recently came further out of the shadows

    much as I did here, remember?

    ReplyDelete
  7. pm is a very special person and i am honored to count him among my blog buddies too :) between his poetry and your photos- i am in hog heaven :) thanks to you both for being the artists that you are and for sharing yourselves with me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. PM: it's no after-thought. In fact, it represents the garish truths of the horrors that Bush perpetuated at home and abroad in the name of our country.

    Keep writing. We need you to chronicle the events that shape our society.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very fine poems. Thanks for posting them.

    ReplyDelete

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