“How Dare You” — a short poem

This short poem by Mack Johnson was published on page 5 of the January 2022 newsletter of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action (www.gzcenter.org), which is located next to the Trident nuclear submarine base — the largest number of nuclear weapons anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.  Mack Johnson is a retired school teacher and an active volunteer at Ground Zero.

 

How Dare You

 

How dare you prepare to blow up the world?

How dare you give people jobs that destroy life instead of building it?

How dare you think that security comes from killing instead of loving?

 

How dare we look away from the specter of a mushroom cloud?

How dare we allow our leaders to spend our taxes on death?

How dare we put off screaming, “ENOUGH!”?

 

How dare I believe in love, in light, in this beautiful planet, and do nothing?

How dare I not walk my talk?

 

 

 

 

About GlenAnderson 1498 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org