A globe besieged by merciless ants
a cloudburst of open resistance—
Fallujah.
~ Maureen Holm
AMNESIA
They were sleeping
A girl, curled as if still
In the womb
A family, in amnesia
For a moment
Forgetting
The violence outside
The sweat-drenched fear
At the market
Buying vegetables
Waiting for
The bus
Amnesia, must be
Contagious
Like the plague
Americans, the carriers
To the world
We forget while awake
We don't need
To dream
We are rich
Buying vegetables
That we throw away
Un-spoiled
In the trash
Not in the soil
We've made amnesia
An art form
Twisted forgetfulness
Into a victor's wreath
Crowned our nation
With thorns
Handed the spear
To a Roman soldier
Trained to
Perfection
In amnesia
He gives the order
Not Caesar
Who promptly denies
The bombs fall
From star-strewn skies
We read the news
But make no cries
For we are almost
Dead from
Amnesia
— Anne VanDeuson
September 6, 2007, on reading the news of an Iraqi family's death due to an American air-strike at night.
Uni-verse
