The Ninth Dream:
War (in the City
in Which I Live)

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
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It makes my heart ache to hear this story. What are we doing? People are dying, and we can't harvest our crops. People are dying and we can't work on our roads. People are dying and we simply don't care. I've seen that venom. Sharp like a coiled snake. Hidden in the brush. What are we doing, while people die?

A marvelous use of words to convey a heartfelt message. A beautiful way of saying, "Enough already!" This poem painted vividly the many scenes of growing up poor in a border town and the puzzlement of a young boy who does not understand what drives the people around him. But he knows that it is wrong. He knows that it must stop. He knows it has gone on for all his lifetime, all his lifetime, and now it is time for it to end. I hope, with Benjamin, that our children will not make this a better place.

Heartbreakingly beautiful words that describe a truly heartbreaking issue. The solution is indeed analogous to the horizon, although I never thought of it before. This poem is so lovely, yet sad at the same time.

Thank you.