Sunday, May 18, 2008

HOSTAGE

by Marcelle Kasprowicz


Lob your stone
across the border
Yes, that way

Nothing to worry over
those are cardboard cutouts
A shooting gallery
No more

If your aim is good
they will fall
That's what you want

If you've done this before
you can aim at the head
That will bring them down quick

The chest is a bigger target
easier to hit
With good results too
And the small ones
don't run as fast
That's an advantage

Don't feel bad
What may look like wounds
is really just paint

Here is the first stone

You hear cries?
Did you forget your earplugs?
Have you tried inspirational CDs?
A great one is ''Might Makes Right''

Today
the sun is shining on us
giving us strength
Tonight
when they bask in the sun
the same stones
may be lobbed at us

Hurry
Don't look into their eyes
That's where man's innocence
lies hostage
to history's shifting shadows


Marcelle Kasprowicz was born in France and lives in Austin, Texas. She writes in English and French. In 2001, her poem “House of Bones” won first prize in the AIPF Anthology. Her poems have appeared in several magazines, anthologies and on line. Her first book Organza Skies was published in 2005.
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