This Poem was Submitted By: Karen Ragan On Date: 2003-09-12 22:20:41 . . . Click Here To Mail this Poem to a Friend!

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Our Bullets are Bigger

Only a mother would take a second glance...I stared  at crude stick men, fascinated by crayon scribbles,  wedged between science and spelling papers,  dab of peanut butter stuck on one corner. The stick men looked like fat ants, who had feasted  on the peanut butter, then crawled to paper places  standing up like loyal sentries, stick guns in hand. Big PURPLE BULLETS drew my eyes to attention. An over-sized flag flew high above purple projectiles  upon matching purple pole--PURPLE,  white, and blue  STRIPES--odd-colored stripes waving a wrong color!           "Ran out of red...he flippantly said...purple was all I had" "The teacher told me to draw a picture about  The Star Spangled Banner, and how I feel  about what happened last week, "  he simply said,  diving out to play, peanut butter sandwich in hand. This was his picture of war...unreal to innocence. A simple drawing held such a menagerie of meaning;  creation triggered by events of untold tragedy. Only one week ago, tall buildings of strong steel suddenly crumbled like tinker-toy towers. Americans fell to their knees in agony, but not defeat! Vividly-painted words ran red from recesses of my mind,  indelibly etched by his dad's painful memoirs of war, Blood brushed from fields of death, innocence wounded, lost  in death's dark silhouette, with every wake of artillery.    From his heart came make-believe guns, stick figures, a biggg flag, and huge PURPLE projectiles--his bullets. No blood or wounded on his simple, crayon battlefield. My heart colored between the lines my son had drawn. In my eyes, that flag and those bullets grew bigger!  He had no whys or reasons...just simple faith...in me,  in his school teachers and Sunday school teacher,  who taught him that America still stands...for freedom. America's greatest weapons are not missiles of cold steel,  but are in a power understood by many men of great valor; now I clearly see 'purple hearts' hiding in crayon colors.  We win, when our weapons are mixed with compassion,  and our courage and trust is in God and each other.  If we forget this truth, we become like our enemy, full of hate and venom...destroying ourselves. In the midst of despair and destruction came heroes, so many we shall never hear of, so many sacrificed life to save another, no greater love was ever seen. As Americans fell to their knees, reaching up  for God's Hand of Strength, and out to each other, people of all backgrounds joined hands in prayer... together in love, together in faith, together in unity. This war must first be won in the hearts of Americans  before it is won on the battlefield or our fight is vain. As I tucked Josh into bed, I sang his favorite song, "Jesus loves me," holding him ever closer, I prayed a simple prayer, believing my bullets are stronger  than enemy bullets...knowing my bullet of faith travels straight to the heart of God, exploding  with compassion in a blaze of glorious love.

Copyright © September 2003 Karen Ragan

Additional Notes:
This memorial to 9/11 is a day late, but I wanted to get it on my website before I submitted it here. It is a revision of a poem I submitted last year, but I changed the wording quite a bit. To see the ORIGINAL DRAWING made by my son, Josh, then 10, visit his page at my site: http://lightheartedwords.homestead.com/OurGunsAreBigger.html (I put 'guns' instead of 'bullets' in the webpg title, but would have had to delete the whole pg to change it...don't think too straight at 3am)


This Poem was Critiqued By: Thomas H. Smihula On Date: 2003-10-06 08:50:33
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 9.55882
Will visit the website to get a view of the picture. I see depth into the poem and I searched for the truth you speak of within it. Your ending tells it all to me but your story leads up to it. A drawing as you indicated rarely has consequences and physical results, yet depending on the viewer can motivate one. I read this several times for I was unsure of the direction you were taking me examples: Was it wrong to be at war? Were we right to be at war? Does philosophy enter the picture for justification? Does faith give us the okay and makes us right? What makes us stand above the evil? These are just a few of the directions I traveled. If this was your intent then great job if you wanted me to go a specific direction then I am sorry I missed it. Really enjoyed reading this one leaves so many questions and that I like. Tom


This Poem was Critiqued By: Andrea M. Taylor On Date: 2003-09-16 09:23:37
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 9.00000
Karen, This type of reading for me is a read. I don't care if you give me a 1 and move on. I just want to express the beauty of your son's image and your words for me. Our faith is our big purple bullet needed life. Our inner strength to go on as we whince at what our children witness at such a young age. I enjoyed the post and savored it as an imaginative and powerful memorial to all who were lost or suffer the continuing loss of that tragic day. To critique this presentation, for me, does not serve any purpose to the importance of the message. In our hearts, we may not always follow the rules, but still can feel the impact of truth when innocence lost. I remember when my son was 10 and the Challenger exploded. He came home from school very sad and upset. He told me the teachers were watching it on television all day. He looked at me with his very deep blue pools of stolen innocense and asked, "Mom, why do they keep showing it over and over...don't they know one hurt is enough?" To this day at 26, he is still bothered by the way the media presents the news. When the 911 attacks happened, he brought up the Challenger situation again and said, "What purpose do we serve these people by watching them needlessly die over and over again? What do they want to insight...more sorrow or revenge?" The look in his eyes was the very same. I still ponder his truth. God bless, Andrea
This Poem was Critiqued By: Brandon Gene Petit On Date: 2003-09-15 17:46:59
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 9.83333
The irony in this comparison is powerful and well told here. Emotions are captured as you compare the terrible attack with an innocent child's drawing. A unique range of perspective! - Brandon
This Poem was Critiqued By: Claire H. Currier On Date: 2003-09-15 17:41:36
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 9.78947
Hi Poet: This poem reaches out in truth thus appearing within the lines. Through the eyes of a child, the little ones who are always so innocent in their thoughts and actions ...having not a thing to do with this event yet effects their entire future without a doubt. The stick men and purple bullets says a lot when drawn by a child. A large flag of white, purple, and blue, tells me something is so wrong here and without really knowing it this child made a profound statement with his crayons...."Americans fell to their knees, reaching up for God's hand of strength"..this line is very good poet and too "we win when our weapons are mixed with compassion and our courage and trust is in God and each other." I just love the last stanza where you speak of putting Josh to bed and singing Jesus Loves Me to him. It speaks of faith and trust and love which is so important to every child on earth no matter what their nationality or upbringing may be. Thank you for posting and sharing this with us again. It is not easy to relive much of what happened that fateful day.......I know I was getting ready to celebrate my life for it had been one year to the day that I was dying and underwent open heart surgery.....to this end I am grateful and for those that died I honor their passing......I pray for the families and the children left behind....be safe my friend, God Bless and continue to bless your work. I have visited your site and it is wonderful. Claire
This Poem was Critiqued By: Duane J Jackson On Date: 2003-09-13 21:48:48
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 10.00000
Hi Karen! There is so much to talk about after reading this poem…..I’m not sure my critique would ever end. However, I will begin by saying that you have written this beautifully and have captured the emotions and sentiments perfectly. I have read your poems before and this will have to be the best. I will offer my suggestions at the end. Three aspects stood out- innocence, pride (in America) and of course, the way this was written (replete with imagery and emotional depth). The poem does well to capture the innocence of a child who is unaware of the trials of war. The image of the dab of peanut butter, the purple substitute for red, his eagerness to play and the absence of blood forms a picture of lamb like innocence. Then, there is the pride in America. The poet believes that America is strong enough to win a war by brushing aside the methods used by its enemies (faith in God) Of all the 9/11 poems I have read, this will have to stand out because it takes into account so much in a very compact manner. I felt the strength here, was the way it flow. The flow actually does well to carry this outpouring through. Imagination and imagery were also used remarkably (‘the stick men looked like fat ants……………) I could go on and on about the sentiments expressed in the piece but I’ll come to my suggestions. You will admit that a lot of poems have been written on 9/11, right? I feel (and this includes myself) that we need to extend our imagination further when describing the towers. ‘tall buildings of strong steel’, I felt was stale. These weren’t tall, these were very tall……let’s replace tall and definitely ‘cold steel’ as this has been over used time and time again (by myself as well)…….let’s replace steel. Then, ‘knowing my bullet of faith travels straight to the heart of God, exploding’. Let’s not aim our bullets of faith at the heart of God….let’s have God fire his gun of faith so that the bullets explode in our hearts…..we could reverse the gun pointing here. Those were just a few suggestions and I will say this again- this would have to be one of the better poems and it still leaves me thinking. Excellent job, Karen!! Duane.
This Poem was Critiqued By: C Arrownut On Date: 2003-09-13 17:54:42
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 1.00000
Hi Karen, I enjoyed reading your poem and thought the notes were good, because I was wondering how old Josh was. Too bad it wouldn't fit into the poem. I liked the lack of rhyme because of the subject matter--war. Also, I liked the first part best because there you used more metaphor and symbol, while the end is direct narrative. Verall, a very good poem and an excellent read. Thanks for sharing. Sorry I don't have more to say. Hope what I did say is helpful.
This Poem was Critiqued By: marilyn terwilleger On Date: 2003-09-13 12:43:40
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 9.64286
Hi Karen, This is a fascinating piece that speaks many truths in each line. Through the eyes of a child, the innocent, who had nothing to do with this horrendus event..but has everything to do with their future. The stick men and purple bullets says a lot when drawn by a child. A large flag of white, purple, and blue, says something is wrong here and without really knowing it this child made a profound statement with his crayons...."Americans fell to their knees, reaching up for God's hand of strength"..I especially like this line...very poingant....also "we win when our weapons are mixed with compassion and our courage and trust is in God and each other." I just love the last stanza where you speak of putting Josh to bed and singing Jesus Love Me to him. It speaks of serentiy and love which is paramount for a child. This piece carries a great message, one that we should all heed and believe. thanks for sharing this important poem with us. Peace...Marilyn
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