Battle Lines

Words! Words! Words! From the moment we are born, ’til the day we die, we find ourselves adrift upon a sea of words, of apparently polarized and conflicting concepts, symbols, and ideologies. Liberals and Conservatives Christians and Jews Moslems and Hindus Capitalists and Communists Blacks and Whites Men and Women Good and Evil An endless stream of apparent opposites confronts us and often seems to demand that we favor one side over the other. Some of these divisions are useful. But many are potentially destructive. The key to resolving conflicts –to ending the Battle Lines between individuals and cultures– exists in understanding the inherently polarizing nature of language. Battle Lines is an epic poem about the reasons human beings fight and kill each other with abandon. And it explores some alternative ways to address the issues that divide us. As I am writing this, the winds of war are once again shrieking at gale force around the planet. I am republishing this slightly revised second edition of Battle Lines to add my voice to the growing chorus of humanity praying that the insanity will stop before we are plunged into yet another world war. Battle Lines was written in 1984, at the height of the Cold War. It was presented as performance poetry on my weekly public radio show, “A Story Told,” on several occasions between 1984 and 1992. The original limited print edition was self-published in 1984 and sold through independent bookstores and at arts and crafts festivals.