The poet wrote me with some history of the poem, which I had posted after being given it by her sister, with whom I work.

“This poem was written in November, 2002, before the US invaded Iraq. It was read at several Peace Rallies, open mic poetry readings, and for a cable show in Hull, Massachusetts. It was also passed out at the January 2002 Peace March on Washington, and was handed directly to Representative Cynthia Mckinney and actress Jessica Lange.”

I hadn’t expected that the poem had been written prior to the re-election, for some reason.