In unison Their voices rise To a crescendo And meet At just one word
"America!"
Then...
"America put us here!"
"You are an American!"
"You put us here!"
"Just beneath your feet Under the floorboards!"
"You, descendent of Greece and Rome!" "You, descendent of Europe!" "You, descendent of slave-owners!" "You, descendent of Indian killers!" "You descendent of the Atomic bomb!" "You, inheritor of the evil of all your enemies!" "You exploiter and despoiler of the Earth!" "You, son of the new empire!"
"Our spirits walk the planet!" "Our tormented descendents walk your streets!" "Our exploited descendents look for weaknesses in your walls!" "Our bodies lie waiting...
Under the floorboards beneath your feet!"
In horror I draw back
Such accusations Of such crimes It's too much to bear!
Jim Bush is a 61 year old, Vietnam-era veteran, currently living in Katy,Texas. He was raised in a military family. His father received the Silver Star for directing troops while under air attack at Clark Field in the Phillipines, survived the Bataan Death March, and spent three and a half years in a Japanese POW camp. He also received the Purple Heart for wounds received while a POW. Jim served as an army photographer in Okinawa and Korea. In 1987 he traveled to the war zones of Nicaragua with a veteran's group dedicated to stopping the Contra War.
