SHEA'S "BUFFALO" THEATER 1955

"No animals were harmed during the filming of this production" American Humane Association 1980

   

       



    Across the screen
        a cowboy rides the plain.
            We watched.
        He stops.
            I bounced on grandma's knee.
        An arrow flies.
        His horse rears up in pain and falls and dies.
            I cried.
                She laughed at me.
    I wonder
        did her German cousin chide the Nazi's
            rise or praise it out of fear?
        And did my father's mother's cousin
             hide a slave or own one?
                Now the choice seems clear.

    At five I knew injustice.
        Didn't you?
            (At every age we think
                we know it all)
        Which thoughtless act
            we do with out a clue
                will bring us shame--
                our grandchildren appall?
    Those innocent but wise
        may show us how to be
            tomorrow's honored hero now.




 

Reviews

[Henry]

Like Jesus' words saying those unlike a child wouldn't enter the kingdom. I'm not preaching, just pointing out the parallel that ran through my mind. A child's innocence really is the only true innocence.
I love how you wrote through a boy's eyes, especially with the horse. He cries, because he still only sees the black and white of it all, and not the grey adults see... The greater picture some call it.
Really enjoyed reading :)