If we do these things in the green wood...

There's a Unitarian Church on my pathway home from work. Almost every Wednesday there are members on either side of the street protesting the war in Iraq. There signs say things like "Honk if you want to stop the war!" I always honk.

I wonder how long they will have to stand on the curbside before all of the troops come home. Not just the "surge" troops, but everyone.

General Petraeus seems to think that 30,000 will come home in the next year. That's good. But that still leaves 130,000 men and women fighting this war.

I thought of an old Peter, Paul and Mary song while I was driving today. If I could find the audio file, I'd post it. But even without the haunting tune, the words are very powerful.


I've seen a thousand people kneel in silence
And I've seen them face the rifles with their songs
I always thought that we could end the killing
But now I live in fear that I was wrong

The killer and the cynic waltz together
Their eyes are turned into their skulls
They do not feel the bullets in the bodies
They do not hear the dolphins or the gulls

If we do these things in the greenwood,
what will happen in the dry?

If we don't stop there'll come a time when women
With barren wombs will bitterly rejoice
With breasts that dry and never fill with promise
Gladly they'll not suckle one more life

Is this then the whimper and the ending?
The impotence of people raised on fear,
A fear that blinds the sense of common oneness
Common love and life or death are here

If we do these things in the greenwood,
what will happen in the dry?

Will no one light the candle in the darkness
Will no one be my guide, not let me fall
I've lost the sense that tells me where the path is
I feel the chill of winter in my soul

There's no way I can say the words more plainly
There's no one left to point at anymore
It's you and me and we must make the choice now
And not destroy the life we're living for

If we do these things in the greenwood,
what will happen in the dry?

If we do these things in the greenwood,
what will happen in the dry?