Aleppo
© Phil Cosker 2016
In my comfortable room
I fume
Aleppo
Putin
Obama
May
Games to play
In
Aleppo
What do I know of this?
Shit all
Of the reality
In
Aleppo
Concrete splits
In
Aleppo
Lungs implode
In
Aleppo
Skin
Gently
Searing
Burning
Flaking
Falling
Shrivelled
Blown away
Wasted
Dust
Dead
In
Aleppo
What is this to do with me?
In my comfortable room
Far from me
In
Aleppo
Bones shatter
In
Aleppo
Blood flows
In
Aleppo
Worse than pictures
In my head
Sound
The sound
The sound
The sound
Bang
Boom
Bang
Roar
Rip
Tear
Flesh rips
That’s a sound
In
Aleppo
Children scream
Burning
Dying
In
Aleppo
Limbs lost
In
Aleppo
This not abstract
This is war
In
Aleppo
On the ground
Guts
Spill out
In
Aleppo
Eunuched
I wail
For
Aleppo
Assad’s
Holocaust
Cleansing
In
Aleppo
For what
In
Aleppo?
Bashar al-Assad
Is not
In
Aleppo
Assad sips
Full lipped
At
Putin’s goblet
Silky power
Corrupt corruption
In
But not
In
Aleppo
Hair
Bone
Fingernail
Bone
Blood
Femur
Breast
Bone
Follicle
Hair
Follicle
Nipple
Heart
Bone
Lung
Bone
Bone
Ventricle
Bone
Hair
Tooth
Larynx
Tongue
Bone
Gone
Dead
Hair
Skin
Eyelid
Iris
Gone
In
Aleppo
A child
In pieces
In
Aleppo
Assad
Not in pieces
Not in
Aleppo
A mother
Bereft
In
Aleppo
What’s that smell?
A child burning
In
Aleppo
A father
Weeps
In
Aleppo
Assad
Kleenex wipes a crocodile tear
But not
In
Aleppo
So what?
So fucking what?
What do I do about
Aleppo?
I don’t know
And the clock
Ticks
As the barrel bombs
Tock
Crock
Block
Blast
Blind
Kill
Not just
In
Aleppo
Is that not enough?
Tick …
Tock …
Tick …
Tock …
As the bones break
Crick
Crack
Crock
Broken
Crick
Crack
Shatter
In
Aleppo
We excuse ourselves
For the bravery of those
in
Aleppo
Who are
Not us
In
Aleppo
Enough!
It’s our world
Stop the murder
of
Aleppo
I don’t know how to end this
In
Aleppo
I apologise.
Phil Cosker 