Our Members' Creative and Expressive Works

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Till We Bring Them Home Again
By: Mia Austin-Scoggins

There are voices newly rising,
We can hear them sound as one.
They’re our brothers, they’re our sisters,
They’re our children, dads, and moms. More

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If you cleave to victory
It will elude you
Like water in cupped hands. D. Nurkse

OUR CONUNDRUM
By: Barry L. Reece

It’s official. The debate is
Over. Questions answered.
Doubts laid to rest.

No more excuses
No more secrets
No more lies
No more false hope.

Our war has become a
Major debacle. The impasse
Impenetrable. Stay, and we
Fail. Leave, and we fail.

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War as Theater
By: Barry L. Reece

An S-3B Viking jet, framed by a cloudless blue sky, approaches the USS Abraham Lincoln.  Lightening fast flybys stir the emotions of crew members below.  The jet, marked “Navy 1” lands safely.  A smiling president, dressed in “Top Gun” attire, boldly exits the plane. He is greeted by loud applause.
The Commander-in-Chief walks confidently to the podium and flashes a “thumbs up.”  He triumphantly delivers a report on the war: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.  A large banner above the president reinforces his message: “Mission Accomplished.”  Applause warms the president’s heart.

“Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice.  It demands greater heroism than war.”  Thomas Merton

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Ode to Uncle Mo

By Wally Myers

Perhaps you’ve heard or seen Uncle Mo
Handhas Gandhi, from the academy award show?
He lived in India, where it’s poor and it’s hot.
And overthrew an empire without firing a shot.

To put Mo in a box was hard to do
He was a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, a Jew
It’s hard to figure what Mo was
Rather than one, he was all of us. More

Living with War Everyday
By Barry L. Reece
The lyrics in italics from Neil Young

I’m living with war everyday
I’m living with war in my heart everyday
I’m living with war right now.

The procession of flay draped coffins is endless. A grieving Mother stands near an open grave.  The echo of taps marks the End of another soldier’s life. More

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House of War by James Carroll
This review by Cy King

If you feel as I do that our world and our nation are in deep trouble, and if you wonder why this is so, “House of War: The Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power” by James Carroll provides answers. More

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TOMMY
By: Barry L. Reese

The rhythmic cadence of knitting
needles slows, then stops. Maude
thinks about Tommy. Is he safe? More

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Hiroshima: When Time Stopped

By: Wally Myers

In a blinding flash
With a devastating crash.
What once was alive
Was then vaporized.
What once was home
Was forever gone
In the city burned to ash. More