Friday, December 3, 2010

Everyday Senseless Slaughter


As they are sitting quietly
Reading and relaxing in a friendly coffee shop
A man with an automatic weapon opens fire by the register
          killing a young couple heading out the door
         
Strolling through a produce market
          On a pleasant Sunday morning
A truck bomb explodes just up the block
          You note the blood that mixes in the gutter
with the ashy residue & water from the fire trucks

Enjoying the comfort of your cozy beach hotel room
          An explosion rips the air
Screams mix with the sounds of collapsing stairs
          A man walks by in a daze
So much blood streaming from his head

Children crowd around for candy from the friendly soldiers
          Suddenly a trucks pulls up and explodes right into their faces
Though it makes no sense to us, these martyr bombers are those that go to heaven
          Killing children who dare take sweets from the hated enemy

In the dark of night jets howl in and rockets streak the air
          Innocents within their paths are simply collateral destruction
Young men left alive but deafened do not share the scripted vision
          And rush to join the righteous folly of the deadly orgy

Smiling in a nightclub on a balmy night
dancing without a care while on a dream vacation
unexpectedly a tremendous explosion all around
          and uncounted screams pierce the smoke-filled air

snarled once again in the endless traffic
          between burned out vehicles and military checkpoints
the insurgent in a truck that stops unexpectedly up ahead
          becomes a blessed martyr as her body parts rain down

eating with your company, safe within your post
          the bomber’s body does not shield you
from its thick wrapping of nails and ball bearings
          propelled by the explosives strapped snugly to his tummy

teacher starts a lesson and the children pay attention
          freedom fighters enter, punctuating praise of god with explosions
teacher takes a bullet and screaming parents gather in the street
          troops storm the school and little children jump from windows
cleaning up the bloody carnage there comes an overwhelming shame

gathered together in an ancient shrine on a holy day
          fifty die and hundreds bleed when an infidel blows himself apart
wailing survivors scratch through the debris in search of their fallen
          and vow revenge for the loved ones lost in their defiled sanctuary

low-level micro-manager returns to the break room for more coffee
          dissatisfied ex-worker somehow  gains entrance to the building
shots ring out in carefully planned locations bringing on a pandemonium
          manager and former worker share bullets over their spilled coffee

loyal members of the gang must avenge the latest killing
          there is no room in the ride for the brother in the wheelchair
driving by, their shots ring out and citizens scatter
          a dirty homeless vet and a little schoolgirl lack the proper moves

mourning another loss at the too-familiar cemetery
          the howl of rockets descend both on the dead and the grieving
the black mourning clothes of a young woman soak up her blood so well
          old and young alike commence a gruesome, helpless wailing

she sits chatting in the auditorium, her assignment has been done
          sound of popping gunfire from somewhere close behind
she stands and looks around and takes a bullet in the head
          he was a quiet former student they said, but he’d gone off his meds

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