Thomas Fortenberry is an American author, editor, and publisher. Owner of Mind Fire Press, he has judged many literary contests, including The Georgia Author of the Year Awards and The Robert Penn Warren Prize for Fiction. His work has appeared internationally and he is a tireless advocate of peace and human rights.


Enclosed you will find a poem to add to your site. I, as with the world, am appalled by what has happened to Afghanistan. My thoughts and prayers are with you. T. Fortenberry



Revolutionary


What an indictment of our world
that love of freedom
and the desire of escape
from oppression and hate
has to be called "Revolutionary."

Isn't this normal? Isn't this the way
it should always be? Free
to do what we want, free
to think what we want, free
to be what we want, free
to love who and how we want:
This is basic, bedrock. A foundation
of life. It is true
that life can be tough
and things aren't always what they seem
but this, this insane atrocity
of nature doesn't even deserve mention
in the pages of our bloody history
books, films, and fictions, much less
become reality. But it has
and worse yet, it could again.

This then is the reason
for revolution. We need revolutions
in hearts and minds and souls.
We need a revolution inside
Mother Earth herself, alive
with eternal love and respect
and sacred duty to each other:
she will give birth
to our ever-growing, ever-shining
redeemed and hopeful future.
It is a revolution
against the horrors of death itself.


[c 2002 Thomas Fortenberry]