Bloodbath in Gaza

While American and Israeli officials

Clink their champagne glasses and schmooze

At an embassy in Jerusalem,

One thing is barely making the news:

 

Over one hundred twelve° Palestinians

Have been killed at the Gaza Strip

Since March 30 by Israeli soldiers

Demonstrating their marksmanship.

 

Over 13,000° have been

Injured, having wounds that consist

Of large, gaping holes in the victims--

Bullet holes the size of a fist.

 

The bullets shot from high-velocity

Weapons on hitting their target explode

Expanding and mushrooming inside the body.

Israeli cruelty à la mode?

 

People from all walks of life gathered

To demonstrate and express their frustration

For living conditions in their Gaza prison--

An abominable situation.

 

Conditions, in fact, are among

The worst that the world has seen.

May 14 was the bloodiest day

Since the strife in twenty fourteen.

 

Israelis call it "self-defense";

It's really shoot-to-injure or kill.

Are snipers keeping track of how many

Palestinian coffins they'll fill?

 

One uncle never imagined

That he would need a body bag.

He carried home his 8-month old niece

Wrapped in a Palestinian flag.

 

The people want a place that's home.

But while negotiations stall--

And marginalized by circumstances--

They live inside or outside a wall.

 

-by Bob B (5-19-18)

 

°Based on a report by journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous