Comments on: Campus Elegy

By: Joan

Joan — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:48:05 +0000

I love this much needed and compassionate poem. The part that resonated with me was the realization by the students that these seemingly familiar neighborly figures were going to hurt them. That is a horrible feeling of betrayal. My first thought was of Bosnia, but so many wars are neighbor against neighbor . We could go straight back to our own civil war.
Strange to be talking about war. Is this what it’s come to again?. Why all the hatred against college students? Is this misplaced class warfare or just the case of a few bullies given too much power? Are we doomed to repeat Kent State again?.

http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/22/how-painful-is-pepper-spray/
First a link to the pain of pepper spray.

By: Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:10:27 +0000

This is just a terrific political poem, Luisa. The phrase Larry identifies is obviously a pivot, but everything that follows it feels crucial, too. I mean, who hasn’t experienced that tension between taking a stand as a fighter (nonviolent or otherwise) and wanting to continue treating one’s opponents like human beings deserving of compassion?

By: Larry Ayers

Larry Ayers — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:11:05 +0000

“What civil liberties we take.”

Now there’s a pithy phrase if I ever read one! Love the dual meaning. Ambiguity rules!