notes on why IANASP is a Godless area after accusations that the editor is a fascist, by Martin Hayes

I am not a silent poet

no

Gods,
you are not allowed in here –
these walls are not to be disfigured
by your muskets and cluster bombs,
and even if you were
that all-seeing judgemental eye of yours
would need to be left at the door,
scooped out of that gun turret
you keep in the center of your head,
and you’d need to wipe those feet of yours too
because the blood on your soles stink,
and while you’re at it
you’ll be asked to give your fingernails a clean
of the ribbons of flesh you have massed,
and you’ll also have to give that mouth a rinse
as we can’t understand you –
those bones and severed heads stuck in the back of your throat
make it impossible to translate what you say
..

what’s that? poor? the poor…?
no? oh, war – I should’ve fucking guessed

..
I tell you what
just…

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Razan al-Najjar (1998-2018), by Danny Dover

I am not a silent poet

Dear Razan,
crushed and thrown away
your life was a poem
just beginning to be written.
Does it matter
what I was doing
twenty years ago
when you were born?
Forgive me
for not noticing
from this corner
of the world where
we don’t face snipers.
Here the walls are piles
of flagstone lining fields
of grazing sheep.
What does the bullet feel
entering a heart?
Yours was full of longing,
your blood soaking
the ground you loved.
We were praying for rain
the day you died.
Some prayers
are answered.

..

Danny Dover’s poems have appeared in various journals including Oberon, Himalayan Journal, Blueline, and Bloodroot. He was a 2013 Pushcart nominee.  Danny’s first full-length book of poetry, Tasting Precious Metal, was published in 2014 by Antrim House Books (available at: https://www.norwichbookstore.com).  His chapbook, Kindness Soup, Thankful Tea (Dhotarap Press), was published in 2006. Danny is a retired…

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