Agent orange infection–I go to school with my friend
by Do Nguyen Thanh Tam, age 14

orange crayons, orange sun

 
when I was young, I would refuse to use the color orange
I would remove it from my box of crayons, wondering to
myself
why all the other crayons in all the other boxes
in all the other countries, stood muted, at attention
refusing to at least lament its use, question its usefulness,
refusing to scream against the untold horrors it left behind
when it rained down its orange tears on my countryside
 
why would you ever tolerate any orange
that wilted the leaves on trees, left vines
shriveled to the ground, farmlands barren
maybe you didn’t think you’d live long enough to see
a drawing of me with my friend on our way to school
maybe I didn’t think I’d live long enough
to want to grasp at a crayon once again
long enough to want to color the center of my sun orange
 
—Michael Mars
 
 
Michael Mars is a counterculture poet writing among the contradictions known as Texas. His work can be found in Foliate Oak, Tattoo Highway, Gumball Poetry, and Soundzine. After spending over sixty years on the planet, he still looks forward to waking up and to this day remains cautiously optimistic.
 
Congratulations to the Alabama Writers' Forum for a wonderful exhibition of Speak Peace! The exhibition, which was on display in April, was held at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.
May 19, 2012
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