Pause For Poetry:
Michael Hawkes /78

The Species God Forgot

A poem by Michael Hawkes

What force can be applied to stop the killing?
Is no power strong enough to intervene?
“Of course.’’ Someone replied, except it’s thrilling;
It’s the ultimate transgression,
With the lure of the obscene.

The terror in the children’s empty eyes,
The anguish in their mother’s empty hands;
The horror of a culture’s deliberate demise,
The finality of rubble-covered lands.

The de-humanizing degradation,
The pain of torture and humiliation
Of their men folk chills us all…
Paralyzed with fascination,
Willing grim determination,
As anything aspiring has to fall.

No, there’s not a power on Earth to stop
The strongest motive man has got…
This hatred of that other lot…
We’re the species god forgot
And only human after all.

5/3/24 – Hawkes

Feature image: Hasan Almasi – Unsplash

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