This is the flag at our borough hall. I'm not sure exactly why it's flying at half staff; it's been like that for at least 18 months or more. While there are many good reasons that the flag could be at half staff, it reminds me of a poem from Goldenrod, so I'm sharing it with you today.
Half Staff
by Maggie Smith
by Maggie Smith
Why don't we leave
the flags at half-staff
& save ourselves
the trouble? Save
the kids in coats & hats
on flag duty in the snow.
That morning I sat
in traffic by the school,
waiting for the light.
to change, and there
they were, pulling
the rope hand-over-
hand-over-hand. First
thought: do children
lowering the flag
at an elementary school
know it's for children
shot dead at another?
Then the minivan
behind me honked.
Red to green. So often
I'm reminded the body
is built for ending.
How have we not
evolved past these
temporary containers?
I mean, what a place
to keep everything
everything! Four days
after Sandy Hook,
I walked my daughter
to her classroom,
kissed her head
wished her happy
birthday, & sent her
inside. So often
the mind whispers
to the body, I am not
safe here, and the body
never bothers
to answer. Because
what could it say?
====
Smith, Maggie. "Half Staff". Goldenrod, Atria, 2021.
You can read more about Maggie Smith here.
====
Wishing you love, protection, and poetry as this week winds down.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI love Maggie Smith. XO
ReplyDeleteWell that's a gut punch of a poem. So true, though.
ReplyDeleteSarah says it well - a gut punch. And true. Many flags around here are at half staff...but many are not...confusing.
ReplyDeleteWhoever thought we would have to worry about sending our kids to school, going to the grocery store, or even just driving down a street in Philadelphia. Very good poem about a very SAD situation we find ourselves in.
ReplyDeleteI simply cannot comprehend the situation in which we find ourselves these days. And I cannot comprehend why we put up with it. Thank you for your kind words, Bonny.
ReplyDeleteAll of this is true. Unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI do so love Maggie Smith. Thank you for sharing this powerful poem, Bonny.
ReplyDeleteI've thought this for a while, just leave the flag at half mast, we obviously aren't doing anything about the situation, so why pretend. Sigh, from Tulsa.
ReplyDeleteI just paid my water bill at the borough office and asked about the flag at half-staff. Nobody was quite sure, but they all concluded that it almost always needed to be at half-staff for some reason, so it just got left that way. It's just so sad and messed up.
DeleteOh man.
ReplyDeleteI am sad and angry that this poem feels so true.
ReplyDelete