dirty word

bellybuttons look like wristwatch
dials on their ever-shrinking
waistlines. . .

decomposed cement shrapnel
decorates their hair
as these stick figures
witness with hope-starved eyes
their future
shoveled under their feet
where manholes fill up
gaining a new
dangerous meaning. . .

buildings upended in
demonic grandeur
their rusted iron roots
curled like viscous flesh
sprouting out of the freshly
decapitated. . .

tanks crawl over
bombarded streets
like satiated caterpillars. . .

these scenes
were the side dish
to my TV dinners
all these months
along with expert opinions
from the suits and ties
in capitol hill
sugarcoating
surmising
neither confirming nor denying
the NATO's tentative
opinion poll-foreign policy that's
basically bitch-slapping
bad guys

conflicts haven't been resolved
only the disgust is taking its toll

maybe when the ethnic purging
is all done, the Serbs will strike
a deal with NATO and both sides can
yell "peace"
shake dirty hands
over the cleansing
and tout their actions
as victorious

what a dirty word
cleansing is!

if it's anywhere
close to godliness,
I figure the gods must've
quarrelled over their chess game
and kicked it in disgust
letting the pieces fall
without their due outcome