Point Of View.... (A Poetic Mostly Essay) Poem by Jim Milks

…” I am no politician, nor have I been since the first gun was fired at Sumter and it grieves me much when I consider that this great struggle is prolonged by political demagogues. I try and take a fair and matter-of-view of our national troubles”.

Stirring words, words that were spoken more then 140 years ago words that meant something, words that still mean something words that were not dark but words that glow.

Words that were not part of a political speech, but rather the words of a man trying to explain to his family why he was away,
fighting a terrible war for a year and a day

These were the words of my great-grandfather. They are words that have just as much meaning today as they did 140 years ago. Today we face a war that we did not ask for and yet find ourselves deeply imbedded.
Having no idea in what direction, we are headed.

While soldiers, men like my great-grandfather, my grandfather my father and myself, have fought risked their lives and in often much too often given their lives, “political demagogues” prolong the struggle.

…”And shall I stand an idle spectator when those who have grown powerful and strong under its protection attempt to raze that monument to the ground and trail our flag in the dust? NO, Never. As long as I have a voice I shall shout ‘Rally around the Flag, Boys, rally once again, shouting the battle cry of Freedom.’”

You can not separate the soldier from the cause, the person from the action. Those that have “grown strong and powerful” under the flag have forgotten what price was paid for that power.

All too often freedom is taken for granted, that morality does not matter that good manners do not matter. We have become a country of hedonistic delights so willing to consume and devour.

We have lost sight of the great dreams of our forefathers. Across the globe other countries and other people hate us, they hate us because they see us for what we truly are a shallow, sardonic, self-absorbed shadow of what we should be.

…”And when upon close inspection we find that that monument has in it a few rotten rocks, we will pick them out with our bayonets and sabers and replace them with pure white marble that it may stand as long as time shall last”

Political office was never meant to be a life-long career, for far too long politicians have spent their entire lives growing powerful and “rotting” in the same office the same position. It is time that the “rotten bits of the monument were plucked and replaced”.
Words, simple words, words written 140 years ago words that have as much meaning then as they do now. Words written by a simple soldier that did not want to be there, did not want to be away from his young wife and child, a simple soldier that understood what he was fighting for, understood the enormity of a simple word “Freedom”.

JPM 4/5/2007