Dear editor,
Thanks very much for the story about the Remsberg boys of Iola (Jim, Dale and myself) on June 17. I wish only that my brothers were here to read it.
FYI, I write poems when the urge comes. My IHS English teacher, Catherine Schellenberg, told me that I had poems in me. I thought she was nuts, since sports were my love.
You might know the Robert Frost quote, “A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness. It is a reaching out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.”
I was moved to write the attached poem today.
Sincerely,
George Remsberg,
Glen Spey, New York
Sometimes I Weep
I watch parents crying
Saying that nobody
Should watch their child
Get buried after being shot
When a deranged shooter
With a weapon made only
For quickly killing
As many people as possible
Shoots and kills children
In their school
And after the carnage
I watch craven politicians
In their quest for personal power
Saying their thoughts and prayers
Are with the victims and families
Saying guns are not the problem
Saying don’t infringe on the rights
Of law abiding citizens
I see a beautiful country
And it’s freedom loving citizens
Laid waste by a despotic ruler
I hear our leaders say
We don’t want to offend
The despot by giving
Those people all they need
To protect their beloved country
He might start a bigger war
I watch raging wild fires
Destroy precious ancient trees
Trees three centuries old
And I hear those who say
It’s not our fault as humans
Climate change is just a hoax
Keep on drilling for oil
And keep on mining coal
I see news of a pandemic
Killing more than a million
While vaccinations are refused
Allowing the pandemic
To continue killing more
I watch our minority citizens
Get beaten or killed out of hate
I learn of political decisions
Made by our highest court
That remove long held freedoms
Endangering the lives
Of millions of our people
And declare unconstitutional
Laws that protect the health
Of our fragile planet
Yes, sometimes I weep
