Martine Powers
“Never again,” we say Hands over ears, louder and louder To drown out the screams of those who’ve been slaughtered We comfort ourselves with our self-righteous banter While their lives are too short to consider philosophy “Never again,” we say As the dogs and the birds and the rats savor the remains of their flesh We display our remembrance on a grayscale pedestal While butchering continues in vibrant red, blue and green “Never again,” we say Because we try not to notice the stench of bloated, rotting bodies Filling the barracks, the ditches, the apartment complexes, the marketplaces, the churches mosques synagogues, the train stations, the prison cells, the office buildings, the tents, the farmhouses “Never again,” we say Because we will not hear The thud of an ax as it hacks off a limb The pop of a rifle as it silences a baby The scream of a man as gas fills his lungs The roar of a fiery beast unfurling in a subway tunnel The whimper of a woman with a man pounding in her thighs and a pistol pointed in her face
{20} Bombs