Political Poem: October 2023, by Bryana Fern

Because air raids are silent
In the aftermath of dust
And death.
Because the news feed showing
Children in bombed hospitals
Shows eyes torn apart by war.
Because parents and doctors write
Names on the babies’ bodies
So they can be identified if
They are separated.
Because rubble-lined streets arranged
With white body bags look
Like a patterned crop field,
Mottled with interspersal
Sacks the size of a bread loaf.
Because there is no more bread.
Because an entire people group
Are being ethnically cleansed
Like pesticide on a crop.
Because it is too inconvenient for
America to look at its complicity
While banning Keffiyeh adornment.
Because I saw a woman in hijab on
The street today holding high
The flag of Palestine.
Because a man in a Yamika and
Tassled prayer shawl was
Embracing her. Not in my name.
Because their tears should be on
All faces. On mine.
Because it is November 2024 and
I still write these lines.

Author: poetryfest

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