Ode to a Dead Iraqi Boy
Allen L Roland, Salon.com

Yesterday you were laughing
and playing with your sister
You knew nothing about war
You knew only that you loved
your sister and your parents
and your grandparents and of
course, your dog .
You were free, you were alive
You were gleefully chasing your
sister in the open field
when you heard the planes.
You looked up squinting into the sun
When you heard the first bomb
you began to run towards your home
aware of your mother screaming your name .
You never made it .
You were torn and shredded by an illegal
cluster bomb dropped by an illegal invading
force fighting an illegal war .
Conveniently swept, along with
countless others,
under a rug of
debris called
Collateral Damage .
Sleep peacefully little boy
I will take your outstretched hand
I will give you life with my words
For only poetry can strike deep enough
to give you breath again
For only poetry can join your innocent
heart with ours .
Perhaps these following words from Alice Walker
will touch the hearts of your American
perpetrators and the American public
who continue to condone this
illegal genocide ~ all under the false
banner of patriotism.
Thousands of feet below you
There is a a small boy
running from your bombs.
If he were to show up
at your mothers house
on a green Sea island
off the coast of Georgia
He'd be invited in for dinner.
Now, driven , you have
shattered his bones .
He lies steaming in
the desert
In fifty or sixty
or maybe one hundred
oily, slimy bits.
If you survive and return
to your island home
and your mother's gracious
table
where the cup of loving
kindness overflows
the brim
( and from which no one
in memory was ever
turned )
Gather yourself.
Set a place
for him.
ONLY LOVE UNITES AND HEALS
Allen L Roland
https://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2008/04/03.html