In a War
by Viola Lee



what happens

in a war

this can not

be summed up

in a sentence

or two

the whole

question

is an academic one

morals

are never involved

there is no

structure

and there is no

grace

the only resolution

is that

there is not one

bombs going

bodies

like fishes

sputtering

in the heat

words

like immoral

wrong injustice

but no one

understands

what happens

in a war

it is very clear

bodies

burned

in thin air

like cigarette ash

explosions

one neighborhood

to the next

what happens

in a war

bodies taken

families

devouring

bodies

flooding

grounds

countries

divided

by language

by dirt

stone sand

what happens

in war

ration

this piece

divide this

by thousands

by names

by hair types













Copyright © 2024 by Red River Review. First Rights Reserved. All other rights revert to the authors.
No work may be reproduced or republished without the express written consent of the author.