Guidelines



Submission Guidelines: Send 1-3 unpublished poems in the body of an email (NO ATTACHMENTS) to nvneditor[at]gmail.com. No simultaneous submissions. Use "Verse News Submission" as the subject line. Send a brief bio. No payment. Authors retain all rights after 1st-time appearance here. Scroll down the right sidebar for the fine print.

Sunday, June 16, 2024

CINDER AND SADNESS

by Tricia L. Somers


AP File Photo Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip, October 2023


Cinder block pillows  
and satin tears

Our sheets tied
into escape hatches again

The exquisite pain
of a child a mortal sin

Who has enough courage
to not slaughter the children ?

Who is strong enough
to resist the temptation

to crush the soft spot
of a newborn baby's skull?

Anyone? Anyone at all?

Every last Palestinian child
has more bravery and heart

than the moral army
sent to "cut the grass"

With each child killed
we go more in the red

We're going down fast
A centrifugal vortex

Are you strong enough
to win an election ?

Or too weak to stop
the killing of children?


Tricia L. Somers is in Los Angeles CA where she lives with her Significant Other and a couple of other crazy cats. You can find her work on the pages of The American Dissident. Online her poetry can be found at The New Verse News and Rat's Ass Review. For a different perspective on current issues visit her at Bitch n Complain on Substack.