marathon poem #2
two unbidden pictures keep filling
my head neither from tv screens one
that kid younger than my grandsons
lying in his pooled blood in the beached
boat waiting for the inevitable he’d
surely gathered news on his flight the
dead 8-year-old others with shattered
bodies severed limbs did he feel any
remorse was it all rage defiance his
mother screamed I heard that on the
air the other is of a 7-year-old
her brother gone her own leg gone had
she been taking ballet like my young
grandkids she surely played tag rode
her bike I hope she’ll meet our spunky
illinois congresswoman both legs lost
in warfare that shouldn’t have been
I hope her mother’s head heals her
crippled heart is needed and the dad’s
too I heard a caller-in saying yes let us
praise police and boston bravery but
remember remember butchered syrians
2013 Jacqueline Jackson
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2013.
