Jul 11 2007
NO FIREWORKS IN BAGHDAD
by Mankh (Walter E. Harris III)
7/11/07
in memory of all the soldiers and civilians, on all sides,
who have disembodied during Operation Iraqi Freedom
and other such 21st Century atrocities
No fireworks were delivered to Baghdad
to celebrate their Iraqi Freedom,
their Shia and Sunni and Kurd,
their Islamic and Christian
and Jewish and Yazdân and Zoroastrian
and Mandaean and atheistic and Sufi and Mystical
freedom of choice.
No sparklers arrived in Kirkuk
for Independence Day.
No pinwheels in Basra
for their liberation.
No roman candles in Mosul
on behalf of the Senate.
No multi-color fountains in Tikrit
for democracy courtesy of the House of Representatives.
No bottle rockets in Samarra
for brotherhood with a signed card from the Executive branch
and the Supreme Court.
No fireworks in Fallujah, Kabul or Gaza either
from We The People.
And no flares in Sadr City…
though there have been barrages
of mortar attacks,
car bombs
and missiles.
Mankh is a poet, essayist, small press publisher, and Turtle Islander.
His website: www.allbook-books.com