Christina A. Sharik

TURNING THE TURRET

… In the midst of the battle,
the turret turned and
sprayed the area ~
Except an area doesn’t care if
it’s peppered with bullets –
an area feels no pain.
And after it’s quiet
a lone Somali man
carries a thin, dead child
down the middle of the street.
Our eyes don’t meet.
And then I wondered
how many lives were lost or changed,
how many mothers’ hearts are yearning,
all because of a turret turning.