by Matthew Murrey
‘Deliberate targeting of vital body parts’: X-rays taken after Iran protests expose extent of catastrophic injuries. Expert analysis of images from one hospital suggests severe trauma to the face, chest and genitals was caused by metal birdshot and high-calibre bullets. —The Guardian, February 17, 2026
reveal the structure beneath,
miracle of how strong and fragile
I am, we are. I keep one
of my right hand with its fifth bone
broken—a now-healed ridge I still feel
after half a lifetime. And these
(sent in secret from a country
whose leaders, like so many leaders,
hate the people they rule) reveal
ghosts haunting the injured
bones. Here is one with bright dots
of birdshot fired into the face,
another with pellets peppering
the chest, and one where the target was
the tenderness between the legs.
I do not understand what I see,
am not trained to diagnose what disease
carries a shotgun into a crowd
of unarmed souls, levels it point-blank,
and pulls the trigger.
Matthew Murrey is the author of Little Joy (Cornerstone Press, 2026) and Bulletproof (Jacar Press, 2019). He has recently had poems in Flyway, En•Trance, ballast, and elsewhere. He was a public school librarian for more than 20 years and lives in Urbana, IL with his partner. He can be found on Bluesky and Instagram under the handle @mytwords.
miracle of how strong and fragile
I am, we are. I keep one
of my right hand with its fifth bone
broken—a now-healed ridge I still feel
after half a lifetime. And these
(sent in secret from a country
whose leaders, like so many leaders,
hate the people they rule) reveal
ghosts haunting the injured
bones. Here is one with bright dots
of birdshot fired into the face,
another with pellets peppering
the chest, and one where the target was
the tenderness between the legs.
I do not understand what I see,
am not trained to diagnose what disease
carries a shotgun into a crowd
of unarmed souls, levels it point-blank,
and pulls the trigger.
Matthew Murrey is the author of Little Joy (Cornerstone Press, 2026) and Bulletproof (Jacar Press, 2019). He has recently had poems in Flyway, En•Trance, ballast, and elsewhere. He was a public school librarian for more than 20 years and lives in Urbana, IL with his partner. He can be found on Bluesky and Instagram under the handle @mytwords.
