PETITION

"Chichen Itza contains temple pyramids, the largest known ballcourt in Meso-America, and a tzompantli (skull platform). From the Great Plaza a causeway leads to the Cenote (Well) of Sacrifice, a massive pit into which votive offerings and human sacrifices were cast."
---The Cambridge Encyclopedia

Please take our sons, our daughters too,
Those who wish to save for college

with the modest pay of a soldier,
those who cannot find work in town

or on the reservation --- nothing better than
minimum wage, and nothing with benefits

or even false promises. Come and get them,
invite them to your war. Allure them

with posters and commercials.
And threaten them with fines if they fail

To register for the draft that is forthcoming.
Yet a better tactic might be to convince them

That to be chosen as prince or princess
And thrown into the pit called a cenote is an honor.

Copyright 2004 by David Ray

From "The Death of Sardanapalus & Other Poems of the Iraq Wars" by David Ray which is available at
www.howlingdogpress.com