The latest illegal and unprovoked attack on Iran by US-Israeli forces has brought up both anger and an immense sadness, even exhaustion, thinking of the countless civilians and on-the-ground soldiers who have been killed over the past twenty years because of hubris, power-hunger, greed, or a desperate need for distraction.
From Epstein Files
150 people, mostly children, were killed when a school in Iran was destroyed yesterday. As in Gaza, each child, each adult, has a story. They are connected to family, friends, who will continue to suffer this terrible loss. These statistics (150) are people, real people. The killing has now begun across the entire Middle East (as of this writing, 11 killed in Israel, 3 US soldiers killed...the death toll will climb...and climb...).
School in Iran
This is one of the horrors and sorrows of war. It doesn’t end after the dust settles. Trauma continues, down through the generations.
I wrote the poem below in 2011, after having tea in Swansea, Wales, with a doctor from Pakistan.
Drone
U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan are estimated to have killed well over 2,000 individuals, including an unknown number of civilians (estimated as half the casualties).
1.
He mourns how
the strikes
have changed his country.
Constant fear.
Insomnia.
I pour tea.
2.
The boy’s hands, gone.
The boy’s body
in the coffin, gone.
The uncle’s hands
that held the coffin,
gone.
3.
A desert base. Inside,
figures on a screen.
Outside, red dust. Every-
thing is happening at once.
4.
An ancient figure
etched in rock watches
the base:
one hand down,
one hand raised.
I pour tea.
5.
Those not yet born,
vague figures in red dust,
stare and stare
through us…
(previously published in Cholla Needles)
If you are a US citizen, please contact your elected officials to demand a swift vote on a War Powers Act. Democratic leadership (Schumer & Jeffries) have been milquetoast about condemning the attack, dickering about “procedure” to how the war is conducted, and not directly opposing the war.
Better news (sorta):
A recent poll (Reuters/Ipsos, March 1, 2026) revealed that only 1 in 4 US citizen supported the strikes.
Here Comes President Kill Again (XTC, 1989)
