Larry Jaffe Los Angeles, California, USA

B L A C K M A I L P R E S S

B L A C K M A I L P R E S S

B L A C K M A I L P R E S S

It should be V. 3.0 It should be more like TV full of cops, lawyers or doctors shootouts, courtroom drama and emergency operations. Maybe sitcom genre of doting noir pentameter a cast of homogenised people. Instead it's like vitamins. Its good for you. If it falls, will it be heard? A panorama falls Everyone was there           It was heard The sirens heard it The ambulances heard it The police cars and fire trucks heard it The TV channels broadcasting around the world heard it It was heard far away in Afganistan It was heard in Beverly hills Even Moscow heard it It was heard in the South Bronx where I was born And it was heard in Los Angeles where my children were born I know for a fact it was heard in Las Vegas where my grandchildren were born because my daughter called me at dawn to let me know she heard it I am afraid to sleep tonight because last night I slept like a baby and when I awoke, it was a nightmare It had fallen Steel by steel Stone by stone Person by person Like Rome Like Nero 5000 souls leaving the departure was unexpected like a hitchcock ending to modern romance there was no prearranged warning signal or signs pointing this way yeild to oncoming spirits or any such things just the ecstasy of departure which at first glance was most painful. Some left screaming others bewildered still more felt that their current lives were really not completed as of yet. They left anyway forced departure forced into a spirit world they had forgotton most would simply be born again and for those reluctant to take up the chore of a new body they will enjoy their state... and come back when they are ready... this achieved many smiles so to speak Children of War series I Children Make Good Bullets In this society that reproduces ammunition instead of offspring children serve their purpose well having memorized that one sacred commandment honour thy father and thy mother as they are shipped off to war zones and discover themselves quite capable of killing each other instead of the parents that sent them. II Children without manners Children without manners are sent into the battlefield to be rude to each other. Without their knowledge real bullets, i.e. live ammunition is substituted for the fake, i.e. dead values that sent them there. III Children Without names Senators and Presidents and other politicians pompous or otherwise purposely do not know the names of the children they ship off to war as soldiers. Reportedly they only know the rank and serial number of these G.I. Joes and Josephines just as if they were being tortured during a prolonged and utterly painful interrogation of these nameless children.

All works copyrighted Larry Jaffe 2001 Used with poets kind permission

B L A C K M A I L P R E S S

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