NVN Monday: Two Poems Out of the Rubble
"Havoc" by William Aarnes and "Winter Rubble" by Susan Kay Anderson
HAVOC
by William Aarnes
A Palestinian child stands among the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli attacks in Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza. [Photo: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu] —AlJazeera, December 4, 2023
* rubble, rubble rubble, rubble, rubble children exist, children exist, cheery children exist, chasing each other at a wedding chosen as the target for the missile that’s seconds away rubble, rubble rubble, rubble, rubble children exist, infants napping in the daycare in the building the terrorist chooses to bomb rubble, rubble rubble, rubble, rubble children exist, orphaned and maimed but maybe recovering in a children’s ward when men with grandchildren choose not to worry if the hospital might be shelled rubble, rubble rubble, rubble, rubble
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William Aarnes lives in New York. The refrain of "Havoc" might be a spell uttered by the gods of havoc, though you might also hear an echo of "Nothing" by The Fugs.
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WINTER RUBBLE
by Susan Kay Anderson
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New leaves strive to take the place of blossoms even if they don't bear fruit there are so many flowers hanging above the cold ground down down winter's tomb tomorrow's rooftop. The foreign countrymen spray into the pushing crowd marking where the land breaks faces cheeks eyes mouths weeds needing killing. Pulling. Before sunset. Rolling razor wire someday we’ll be sitting at a table remembering how saying why.
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Susan Kay Anderson lives in southwestern Oregon’s Umpqua River Basin. Her long poem "Man’s West Once” was selected for Barrow Street Journal’s “4 X 2 Project” and is included in Mezzanine (2019). Anderson also published Virginia Brautigan Aste’s memoir Please Plant This Book Coast To Coast (2021).