Good Old Lower East Side

“The Bombings of Iraq” by Cenen (copyright 1999)

Mar 23, 2001

I can feel
The vibrations
Of the bombings

I can see
The tears
About to fall
I can understand
The tensions
In the stomach

I know
How the eyes
Roll up the walls

I can scream
From indignation
Fighting desperation
Waiting
For the next smart bomb
To fall


Hallelujah
Cry
The bombers





Ya Eelahi
Cry
The people
Who find
The bombs
Not smart
At all

I can follow
The direction
Of the severed hand
But
Will the owner
Ever need it
After all

The children
Hide
In their cradles

Their roof is
The mother?’s bodies
And their cries
To Allah
I can hear
The settling
Of the stones
Falling
Miles from where
They had made
home

I can see
A comb
Crossing
A hair shaft
Just before
It is blasted
From the owner?’s head

I can recall
The morning after
When the bombs ceased
For the first
Holy days
Of Ramadhan

Will the Iraqis
Control
Their oil fields
Or
Will they have to
Give them up
To inhabit Iraq