R Martin Basden’s most recent poem to appear here was Mark the Date (August 2012).
Sandy Hook Silence
By R Martin Basden
A photograph of
breathless complaint
thrown heavenward
from gaped mouth conveys
without translation
the rhetoric of pain
breathless complaint
thrown heavenward
from gaped mouth conveys
without translation
the rhetoric of pain
That image
seen from our harm-free perch
commands our empathetic chorus
cry out
cry out
wail in their stead
A sad day summed up in just a few words.
I didn’t think there were enough words to lament the loss of innocent lives and, yet, you found the exact ones, Marty.
Yes.