“Mass Murder” by Kim Sobat
that terrified feeling
we have surely gone to hell
again and again
deranged and consumed by hate
we murder with abandon
(Regarding the New York truck attack and the Texas church shootings)
Killing
All posts tagged Killing
“Heart Beat #4” by Marcy Brennan
the battlefield listens
hearing only the heartbeats
beneath the barrages
of bullets and bombs
death drawn to the sounds
paints its terrible targets
indifferent to why
soldiers take up their arms
caring nothing for politics
wholly unmoved by the
arguments for and against
right and wrong
once the war is engaged
no opinion or cause
deters death from its duty
to silence the heartbeats
of numberless bodies
when possible
whole generations
no matter the uniform
unlived potential or
state of the soul
and yet even with truce
the battlefield never
indulges in sleep
death just picks up its stakes
and moves to new ground
a new killing field
willing and able to serve
death’s dominion
receive its allotment of blood
so long as at least
two hearts beat in this world
death will foment for war
for the ultimate quiet
that follows extinction
unless human hearts
find the mettle and means
to confront death’s agenda
with no less than
death’s own tenacity
fully committed to
killing the killer
in order to bask in the peace
“Sunday Afternoon” by Fons Heijnsbroek
I could kill any man
who deserves it I’d
mete out a terminal
justice without many
qualms or kerfuffles
of conscience but
there’d be no joy
in the killing no
blackhearted thrill
in the taking
of life I could never
indulge in a bloodsport
that hunts down some
innocent creature
as trophy machismo
mis-wired and surging
with bastardized ethics
so what does this say
about me this belief
that the ultimate
stroke is the rightful
response when
provoked by straight up
self-defense or the
agonized cries
that depravity must
meet just punishment
what does it add
or subtract from my
semblance that I
believe life from
conception through
birth deserves care
and protection against
the assault of abortion
who am I that I
should embrace such
grave mortal convictions
what gives me such
right to believe
all the things I believe
to take action when I
see such action as fit
to judge life and death
circumstance not of
my own hand’s creation
who am I that I
spent an erudite lifetime
in search of morality
teachably evident
human in scale but
divinely designed
who am I that I
tried to think with great
thinkers and see with
great seers and pray
with great prophets
who am I that I
come to limited hours
of my limited years
feeling sure I have failed
that morality hides
from the world all the
deeper and darker
than ever before
who am I that I
nonetheless know I’ve
been blest for the
fact that I’ve tried
From my books Bohemian Scents and Legacies (vol. 1)
Poesy plus Polemics 