Cattle Guard

•

One, two, three,
a quiet convergence
           the Nevada Test Site
           Ready to stop the bomb they call Mighty Oak
Hundreds strong, we gather
           fighting a policy of
                       Mutually Assured Destruction
We at the front gate
           Green Peace at the back

four, five, six
Like ancient soldiers prepared for battle
We walk,
           Arms locked,
                        shoulder to shoulder
crossing the cattle guard
Boys, men
Women, girls
Alone,
            pairs,
                          trios,
                                     and more

Seven, eight, nine
Meet by the local Sherriff
                                    and the DOE
who ask
"are you 18?"
             you must be of age
             to fight our government's policies
there are rules to resistance

ten, fifteen, twenty
hot air and sand
             whipped up by dessert winds
Alan, Tom and I
             prepare to cross
Fear and excitement yield the same response
             as we shake with anticipation
placing our feet on the cattle guard
             the void
                         between the metal rails
             the void
                         between freedom and internment

twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five
arms forward,
             palms together
             extended beyond our torsos
             as we were shown in non-violence training
they can bind our wrists with plastic cuffs
              But not our spirits
we are lead to busses
              from which we watch the flow

Forty, forty-five, fifty
our numbers swell
we are history
              as we petition this madness
              far exceeded a baker's dozen
our arrests grow
We are a mob
they
              caught off-guard
                         fear for their safety
and that of a nuclear bomb
fear us
              the real peacekeepers

fifty-five, sixty, sixty-five
overwhelmed
              security
              tightly bind her wrists
her tears outnumber
              protesters detained
a concealed penknife
              will offer relief
This is not practice
              We are at battle

seventy, seventy-five, eighty
For a few
Resistance takes form
as they take flight
               running to ground zero
Disrupt
               this bomb
                          this test
this redundant display of
               of murderous might

eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty-three
I watch as friends fall to the ground
Resistance
              in the form of
                                              none
You later asked if it was my inner Vinnie
              who crossed that guard
                         Knowing I couldn't have done it alone

eighty-four, eighty-five,
              We are eighty-six strong
                          eighty-six arrested
All seeking to be that "hundredth monkey"
              a two days postponement
the measure of our success
future crowds grow to thousands
We have awakened
              a mindset
                           a belief
An acceptance of our strength
             an unwillingness to be silent

The Hundredth Monkey is a parable on community consciousness. It refers to the idea that information or ideas (world peace) when understood by a certain segment of the population, will reach a critical mass, at which point, it will be shared and understood by all. The DOE is the Department of Energy.