UKRAINE, GAZA

Strategic Target

Where is the empathy? Where is the sacredness of life?

They walk with shadows in their hands
They call it protection; they call it justice
But what they send is fire
Bombs over children’s feet
Rockets through walls where mothers hide
with frightened children in their arms

I see it — from snow-covered mountains
I hear it — in the silence between the trees
I feel it — like frost in the chest
And I ask:
How did humanity become capable of this?

They rule with hard faces and cold eyes
They say necessary
They say strategic target
But what do you call a child
with blood on their forehead
and a teddy bear in their hand?

How do you justify
a father who never comes home from the bakery?