april 2003

limbless sanctioned shrapnel children
a confluence of loot and narrow streets
an ethos we will all wear
like an equestrian monument
heart & torso missing
head & tail in pieces
rugs draped over pushcarts rumble at the crossing
a steel-clad centurion
lights the water
euphrates tigris
burns

--- e b bortz

(published in The New People, June 2005)