Being Alive Is A Common Road. It's

Getting Over What You Did To Me Is Not Why I Get Out Of Bed Anymore.

During The Gulf War, I Remember Two Little Third Grade Girls Saying To Me - After I Read Them Some Poems By Writers In Iraq - 'you Know, We Never Thought About There Being Children In Iraq Before.' And I Thought, 'well Those Poems Did Their Job, Because Now They'll Think About Everything A Little Bit Differently.'

For You Who Came So Far; For You Who Held Out, Wearing A Black Scarf To Signify Grief; For You Who Believe True Love Can Find You Amidst This Atlas Of Tears Linking One Town To Its Own Memory Of Mortar, When It Was Still A Dream To Be Built And People Moved There, Believing, And Someone With Sky And Birds In His Heart Said This Would Be A Good Place For A Park.

I Can Never See Fashion Models, Lean Angular Cheeks, Strutting Hips And Blooming Hair, Without Thinking Of The Skulls At The Catacombs In Lima, Peru.

A Poem Is A Cup Of Words Open To The Sky And Wind In A Bucket.