new internationalist
issue 316 - September 1999
Arguments Against the Bombing
consider the infinite fragility of an infant’s skull
how the bones lie soft and open
only time knitting them shut
consider a delicate porcelain bowl
how it crushes under a single blow
– in one moment whole years disappear
consider that beneath the din of explosions
no song can be heard
no cry
consider your own sky on fire
your name erased
your children’s lives “a price worth paying”
consider the faces you do not see
the eyes you refuse to meet
“collateral damage”
how in these words
the world cracks open
Poem by Lisa Suhair Majaj.
First published in Al Jadid, Winter 1998.
Illustration by Emily Johns
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