Why have you...
Ghazal
In Dublin at the end of the day Netflix fades amongst the content. Doze and snoring bask. Why have you murdered me? Perceptible predatory partner’s taste is so comforting. Numbness on the screen asks why have you murdered me?
In Dnipro is a conscript. Pounding blood rubatosis as the self-made makeshift bandage slowly begins to fade for the great tomorrow that will never come. The drone imperviously looks on askance. Why have you murdered me?
In Bago there is a unity in purpose in shouting that which galls you. Steady rumble. Tanks and soldiers’ boots. Surely they will not? Firing echoes down the street hitting the wall, the shop, the flesh aghast. Why have you murdered me?
In Auschwitz a child grips on the mother’s hand. The harsh words in a foreign tongue echo around - herding the cattle. Shower emits gas the usual way. Not the expected flush that enters dirt filled mask. Why have you murdered me?
In Gezira a Nobel mind pushes the stars into the expanse. Imaginary stage. Thunderous applause. Death. Tears in their eyes drip sparkles of joy. This prodigy slave is marked off in the book acast. Why have you murdered me?
In Leathtíre the systematic rape and slaughter of a family means nothing as the unmovable troops march on. Breath rises from the drifting mass as the crow’s eye vivaciously looks and caws. Siblings' hands clasp. Why have you murdered me?
In Taiz skips a playful girl: nefelibata as she is master of her own world, queen of the globe even as bursting bombs bloom all around her. Blossoming blood blush like a flower. Wailing through the strand. Why have you murdered me?
In Rafah there is gunfire scattering all despite the multitudes in the designated executions queue. No internet... Ack-ack-ack instead of yum-yum-yum. Light fades in their hungry soul - demask. Why have you murdered me?
In Ruhengeri there lies a sense of énouement. Burning heart of the mother as she looks on. Her children playing in front of the glinting rifled man. The sly grin as he embarks on his regular task. Why have you murdered me?
In Donetsk despite all the stream of rockets blowing up tanks - onwards relentless surge. An idyllic piece of land but now is blood soaked with grasping death hand. Caesar states the metaphorical die is cast. Why have you murdered me?
In Cuirigcéill rivers flow clear blue water to a dark reddish gulp. Blood is a very special juice[i]. 15 seconds is enough until the algorithm moves on. The numbness overtakes like sauts de basque. Why have you murdered me?
Notes:
Énouement – [n] the bittersweetness of having arrived in the future, seeing how things turn out, but not being able to tell your past self.
Nefelibata – [n] from Portuguese meaning cloud-walker. Someone who walks through life slightly elsewhere. Head in the clouds, heart in another world.
Rubatosis – [n] the unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat.
Sauts de basque – [n] a jump in ballet in which the dancer turns in the air with the foot of one leg drawn up to the knee of the other
[i] The devil Mephistopheles to Faust, encouraging him to sign over his soul in blood rather than ink (Goethe’s “Faust”)