do you know why they bleed
because it used to be whiteblue when they looked up
or darkgrey
or yelloworange
and goldenblack
expansively honest
fearlessly truthful
peacefully humbling
enormously inspiring but
do you know why they bleed
because it used to bring life
drops of it, by the countless
it would pat their shelters
and feed the earth
it would bathe the trees
and flirt with the leaves
it would carry the streams
into the seas but
do you know why they bleed
because shrapnel hurts
especially when they were on their way to school
when they were harvesting their crops
or doing their yearly bookkeeping
cooking their supper gruel
especially when they were waving goodbye to daddy who was
out of the door in a hurry to
feed his family after he
gets home
but
he doesn't.
do you not know why they bleed
as silver and metal colour their eyes
when they look up to the skies
and it is not what they recognise
because death drops instead, by the countless yet
it falls with a clear measure
a hundred thousand bricks shake
fifty million souls taken
a dozen hundred families break
torn bruised brown green and beaten
do you still not know why they bleed
do you not see what they see
do you forget when they recall everything terribly vividly
because when they look up it is red
and pristine bones with dirt
and baked flesh flying off their neighbour's chest
lightly taken as desserts
do you know now why they bleed
because when they do, we simply breathe.
