Ghost Wars

My second poetry collection Ghost Wars, published by Final Thursday Press in 2003, is a chapbook that came out shortly after the beginning of the Iraq War, as an antiwar protest. (This book is now out of print.) Unlike Dragonfly, which was serialized in the blog, I am presenting this chapbook whole in this single blog page (readable below). I will expand on only one page from Ghost Wars, in the same fashion individual poems were highlighted from Dragonfly, focusing here on the haiku "Not a War Memorial." Typically, haiku are not titled, but I chose to forego that tradition with this poem. Not a War Memorial Like beacons or search lights—ghostly towers glimmer in star-riddled skies. Inspired by the Tribute in Light memorial in which two beams of light shone upward from near Ground Zero for a month after 3/11/02, the six-month anniversary of the tragic attack. Dedicated to Saade Mustafa and other Arab Americans who worked at Ground Zero. His picture is featured in the Life photography book Faces of Ground Zero by Joe McNally. Mustafa said, "I ran cable and set up movie lights for the search. My parents are Palestinian. Islam is not terrorism. I was in the U.S. Navy in the Gulf War." It seems fitting to dedicate a poem about light to this lightbearer, a genuine American hero. Page 27 Tribute in Light is a public art installation commemorating 9/11 in which 88 7000-watt lights beam two towers of light into the New York City sky. The mention in the footnote on this page refers to the first time the tribute was put on; it has reoccurred every September 11th since that time, from dusk to dawn of that night. Photo by Bob Jagendorf: Tribute in Light (11 September 2010) As it says on the page reproduced above, this poem was dedicated to Saade Mustafa, a Palestinian American electrician in the movie business who set up lights at Ground Zero (9/11) to assist with the first-responder work. The image below is what appeared in the book of monumental photographs by Joe McNally, Faces of Ground Zero: Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001. Saade Mustafa from Faces of Ground Zero: Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001 by Joe McNally Today, Saade Mustafe is a renowned cinematographer in the filmmaking world. Here is his website: SaadeMustafa.com. Below, you can read Ghost Wars in its entirety. This is easiest to read on a computer screen, but if you are on a phone, turn it sideways and it should be readable. I hope you enjoy these poems. The book's synopsis on the back cover says that these poems deal with "the contradictory psychological demands made on soldiers," and more . . . read the rest below, along with the fine blurbs by Allison Joseph and Denise Duhamel. As always, I'd love to get some feedback or discuss anything with all y'all. Comment, okay? Thanks. Ingat.