Dulce et decorum est
pro patria mori.
But there is nothing
right or seemly
that those we have
asked to die
are
doctors.
teachers.
children.
All for the sake
of a piece of paper
we treat as if
divinely-inspired
instead of written by men
who couldn’t imagine
how different our now
would be from their then.
Do you know it took
a month
(a little more)
for the king to learn of tea
dumped on Boston’s shore?
Yet in an instant
(a little more)
I can learn
of children gunned down
one thousand,
three hundred
fifty-five
miles from me.
And I just have to wonder -
is this what it means to be free?
Those schoolchildren had
heartbeats
and fingernails
and hopes
dreams
and futures.
And it is not enough
to continue to ignore
the fact that
we could choose to do
so much more . . .
There’s a reason that
life comes first
because without life
there is no liberty.
Without life there is no you -
there is no me.
I dream of a day
where we will together say
life matters more
than these weapons of war.
Until then
Lady Liberty stands
her lamp before the door.
And we’re still all yearning
to truly be free
in America -
the land of guns
and liberty.
Melissa Brander is a Wisconsin-based poet who often combines her love of writing with her desire to see change in the world. In addition to writing poetry, she also seeks to instill a love of reading and writing in young people, including her two sons.