Commentary: Armistice Day v Veterans Day, Dan Wilcox

Chatham Peace Vigil

The lunch counter TV is busy.
My sandwich is slow, but 
sitting feels good after standing
the hour in the village square.
Freight trains going by,  waves 
& honks from cars for the graying crowd
at the peace vigil on the 8th 
anniversary of the invasion of Iraq
the knit caps & scarves, even two dogs
(they put the “pee” in “peace”).

But it didn’t work: on TV 
a fighter plane tumbles out of the sky
over Libya, “more war” the pundits say
(while we said “no more war”).

I eat in peace, for now
while the killing is televised. 
Tomorrow I will be back on the street.

Dan Wilcox is the host of the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center in Albany, N.Y. and is a member of the poetry performance group “3 Guys from Albany”.  As a photographer, he claims to have the world’s largest collection of photos of unknown poets.  He has been a featured reader at all the important poetry venues in the Capital District & throughout the Hudson Valley and is an active member of Veterans for Peace.