[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://catrussellwriter.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://catrussellwriter.wordpress.co..." tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://catrussellwriter.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-3038" style="width:499px;height:auto" />Photo by Maria Orlova on Pexels.com“fireworks”

half a world away
the night sky lights up.
a thousand stars fall upward.
watch them burst, break
against the iron dome:
their beauty utterly dependent
upon their thwarted purpose.

sometimes the goal itself
is ugly.
sometimes failure
is the brightest blessing.



*Although I wrote this poem months ago, the fireworks theme seemed relevant with our upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

This poem posted on June 25th of 2024: 262 days since Hamas slaughtered civilians at a music festival and families in their homes. (Israel was not at war and had had no presence in Gaza since 2005.) Approximately 116 hostages are still held in Gaza by Hamas--including an infant and a four-year old, though not all are believed to be alive. Eight American hostages are still held by Hamas in Gaza--three confirmed dead; Hamas holds their corpses hostage.

**inspired by video footage via Michael Rappaport’s Instagram of Hamas rockets repelled by Israel’s Iron Dome. The Iron Dome defense system continues to intercept 90% of the thousands of rockets launched at Israel’s civilian population centers--including playgrounds, schools, and family homes.