Baghdad Fire Blossoms



You are sixteen or sixty-one,
The article will not say,
But you’ve got a gateway to
Heaven or Hell
Strapped beneath your robe
And in a few frantic moments,
They’ll flood Kadhimiyah with
The fruits of your labor.
You do this for god or country or revenge:
How sad that your higher purpose
Will become a footnote marked by a toll:
Thirty-eight in the doorway of a Shiite shrine
And what does that accomplish?
The fireball that tore out your heart
Burns in the bellies of your victim’s kin
And what does that accomplish?
Nothing more than blood.
Nothing less than blood.

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Comments

T
T's picture
User offline. Last seen 4 weeks 1 min ago. Offline
Joined:
Apr 5 2009

Beautiful political commentary.

Raeven
Raeven's picture
User offline. Last seen 15 weeks 3 days ago. Offline
Joined:
Apr 5 2009

mm... i hate to say it, but i actually don't like this one except for the end couplet. i'll try to figure out what it is, but if i know me, it's probably just subject matter. it's one of the few things i'm closed minded on

Diana
Diana's picture
User offline. Last seen 4 days 20 hours ago. Offline
Joined:
Apr 9 2009

Beautifully written. I especially liked the part of "your higher purpose / Will become a footnote".

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