Page Twenty-Nine - Robert Chun

The newspaper tells us what’s important
or so I’ve been told
World news and politics fill the page
with foreign issues, hatred, and rage


I’m told we should be more informed-
that the war in Iraq is severe,
or at least more severe,
than any war here at home


But most often ignored is page twenty-nine
tucked away in the back of Nation and World
where solemnly lies
the obituary pages of the Chicago Tribune


A sturdy monument to the soul
Made of thin paper and ink
A story to tell, a heart here to speak


The old veteran, toppled by cancer
Who cares, you may ask?
He died on your street, without medication
A paper by his bedside reads: Insurance denied
 

Or the middle aged man, gunned down in the street
He has no lecture to give, or promises to make
Just a small, wrapped gift for his daughter
for a birthday party he would never be able to make
 

Have our problems and issues
been solved just by knowing?
Or moved a nation to action
despite it reading the news?


The outside problems are in, the violence arrived
Just look out your window
Or better yet
 try page twenty nine.