September 4, 2004
Where Children Sleep Under the Gaze of the World
Pinpoint flashes through the branches —
the wind cool as early winter,
but not from season shifts of sun,
nor from fronts, nor chills' migration,
but from sweat bled through tense fabric,
from tracks (wet) slipping through the flames
of stung cheeks, beneath eyes that blur
As if steam (not tears) were rising.
Sky lights, like huddled secret beams,
high up in branches where there might
rest a house, for soft whispered oaths —
dead serious oaths to fight childhood's wars.
Not this light. This light is distant,
afar away, unreachable,
beyond the reach of mothers' calls,
beyond laughs, beyond ladders, limbs,
beyond the morning bells of Beslan,
where children sleep under the gaze of the world.
No comfort has the father's night,
an ocean and a continent
from where mothers cover their eyes
against motherhood corrupted,
and children with their rasping breaths,
and those whose chests lie steady, call
to fathers with their eyes enflamed —
dead serious oaths of dawn's reply,
to calm the dull, drear sobs of Beslan,
where children sleep under the gaze of the world.
ADDENDUM:
I'll probably edit this heavily, but a post by Michelle Malkin tore it from me raw and half-formed.
International Affairs
I don't think you need to change a thing. It's beautiful and tragic all at once.
Posted by: AlphaPatriot at September 4, 2004 5:29 PMIt speaks to the same passion I think as this poem inspired by the Oklahoma City bombing...
WHEN HEROES CRY
Sinew and bone and will make a strong man,
heart beating strongly, see his determination.
do you wonder how he defies the jaws of death?
Where does the strength come from?
When he's covered in grit and grime,
dug through miles of muddy earth,
or breathed through smoke and fire?
His driven soul is wound up tight,
bound with pain and despair to fight,
and he won't give up, can't give up,
'til he's pulled the last life from the rubble.
And when his strength won't reach,
and when his grip won't hold,
and when his eyes can't see,
the soul which has just been freed,
That's when heroes cry.