20160819 (photos)

Today's war boy, alive, five years old

Yesterday's war boy, drowned, three years old

Today’s war boy, alive, Omran 

Daqneesh, five years old, stares

Blankly ahead from behind his

Dust covered mop. He is in 

Some type of medical shock,

Not where blood pressure

Drops, consciousness fades. If 

Anything his consciousness 

Bristles with the images of what 

He has just beheld—a nearby 

Explosion that has shattered a

Building and covered him in

Concrete dust. Perhaps his ears

Have not recovered from the 

Sound. Bleeding from his head

He was hauled from the rubble

Of a building hit by a Russian

Or Assad regime airstrike. Early

Reports say he will recover. Oh?

Yesterday’s war boy, Alan Kurdi

Drowned, was only three. No 

Broken bones, and far from the

War-filled Syrian streets. The 

Family, fleeing the war paid to

Be smuggled across a small

Section of the Mediterranean,

When the inflatable boat, designed

For eight but carrying sixteen

Capsized. Their shoddy

Lifejackets failed.  His father

Was recovered; his brother and

Mother drowned. Reactions to 

The photographs were immediate,

Viral, as the word goes today.

The trope about pictures bearing

More meaning than words is

Inadequate to convey the

Larger scene not encompassed

In either or both. We respond to 

Images because they are more

Like being there ourselves and

Seeing with out own eyes. Words

Alone can describe compellingly

If they are artfully crafted but few

Approach the reality of the silent

Frame. Daqneesh’s is derived 

From a video clip which did 

Not record the explosion (could

Not replay the shattering, deafening

Noise, had it been recorded—that

Is left to our imaging). Just as the

Clip of waves washing against

Alan’s body, delivered to the beach,

Did not record his breaths, his 

Screams, gasps, or tears. What's 

Absent is the image of all 

Humankind screaming, “Stop the

Wars! All this is wrong. You’re 

Fighting for peace? While

Shredding our flesh? You’re 

Saving nothing but your vaunted

Manliness. You men who strong 

To kill are not strong enough to

Save. Obama, Putin, Assad, and

All you pusillanimous beheaders

Who talk the gullible into violent

Suicide, who delude young

People they are serving a proud

Cause. Liars—liars—liars, all!

There is no reason for another

To die.” Yet today’s world 

Of irate souls will return to

Travails of the Jenners and 

Kardashians, return to their 

Bombastic election prattle, and

Return to their busy lives

Easily forgetting the wars

Until the photo of tomorrow’s 

War child again sears 

Their retinas.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016