
Photograph of Mother and Child in Palestine courtesy of Le Massacre Courageux des Enfants de Gaza Decembre 2008/Janvier 2009
“I could have been someone else
I could have been somewhere else”
In Near Eastern places once held sacred
The sky is bright with rocket glare and
Other mothers’ children stare unseeing
From shattered hovels, no sweet, wet
Baby kisses from blistered lips with songs unsung
No family portraits to dust and treasure, just bodies
Some other mothers’ children rotting in the dust
Frozen moments of horror framed in blood
Limbs cracked and broken, bellies torn
Faces purpled, hearts stopped
Collateral damage, primary pain