The Pentagon released the names of eight service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
US Marines LCpl Philip P Clark, 19, Gainesville, FL
US Army PFC Jason D Fingar, 24, Columbia, MO
US Army SPC Stanley J Sokolowski III, 26, Ocean Township, NJ
US Army SSG Amilcar H Gonzalez, 26, Miami, FL
US Army PFC Christopher R Barton, 22, Concord, NC
US Army MAJ Ronald W Culver Jr, 44, Shreveport, LA
US Army SGT Edwin Rivera, 28, Waterford, CT
US Marines Cpl Jacob C Leicht, 24, College Station, TX
According to iCasualties, the total number of allied soldiers killed in Iraq is 4,718; in Afghanistan, 1,789. During this same period, Iraq Body Count lists 77 Iraqi civilians killed. In Afghanistan, "human error" has been blamed for a February rocket/missile attack. Spencer Ackerman has a post on drone attacks and civilian casualties at Attackerman worth reading.
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It is significant, this light that pours through sky’s broken pipes, relevant that we observe the brilliance of birds evolving through it, their gray and black wings pushing the willful beam down like mythical gods.
Each wing in formation with the next, waves eclipsing the shore, calling downward the sliding darkness. Bird and beam marching to snuff the hearth of Rome.
One door closes, another opens on the other side, yet where is all the brilliance, the light of Mithras, the significance of broken beams, homes, limbs, love and the splendor of birds?
One shattered window reflects the abhorrent stream of warfare, another, the many days of our repellent fear and reckless wrath. O, Constantine! Isn’t this enough?
I’ll believe in the god or goddess that brings peace to this, the broken casement crooned.
I’ll bow to the god who breathes clean air into our waters, the Silver Sillago said.
Then the pipes in the heavens fell open, beam’s dropped one by one exposing a scorched land and, like the dark, Erebos blanched when Ares puffed his chest in pride.
Cries of anguish began to break through the shadows. A weeping Artemis fled the darkness and howled. Goddess mother pinched the crimson cheek of the dead and dying and a mournful cry moved in the birth of blue.
And as the hearth of Rome opened to the other side soldiers cried out across the entombed land and bombs tossed back their gloomy veils so millions wouldn’t see the carnival of light.
I’ll kiss the feet of the god that smiles upon us,
I’ll pray to the one that molds bombs into blooms, blushed the child’s toy, whose cheeks were fiery red, lying against the splintered wall.
It is noteworthy. It is significant, these beams that tip a land in war. Important we remember the radiance of birds soaring through them, their gray and black wings pushing the persistent beam down like gods and goddesses. Each wing in formation with the next, waves crashing the shore, calling forth the sliding darkness. Bird and beam marching as one to snuff the hearth of Rome.
What of the light of Mithras marching over the sand, the consequence of the broken beams, homes, limbs, love and the splendor of birds, isn’t this enough?
US Marines LCpl Philip P Clark, 19, Gainesville, FL
US Army PFC Jason D Fingar, 24, Columbia, MO
US Army SPC Stanley J Sokolowski III, 26, Ocean Township, NJ
US Army SSG Amilcar H Gonzalez, 26, Miami, FL
US Army PFC Christopher R Barton, 22, Concord, NC
US Army MAJ Ronald W Culver Jr, 44, Shreveport, LA
US Army SGT Edwin Rivera, 28, Waterford, CT
US Marines Cpl Jacob C Leicht, 24, College Station, TX
According to iCasualties, the total number of allied soldiers killed in Iraq is 4,718; in Afghanistan, 1,789. During this same period, Iraq Body Count lists 77 Iraqi civilians killed. In Afghanistan, "human error" has been blamed for a February rocket/missile attack. Spencer Ackerman has a post on drone attacks and civilian casualties at Attackerman worth reading.
~
It is significant, this light that pours through sky’s broken pipes, relevant that we observe the brilliance of birds evolving through it, their gray and black wings pushing the willful beam down like mythical gods.
Each wing in formation with the next, waves eclipsing the shore, calling downward the sliding darkness. Bird and beam marching to snuff the hearth of Rome.
One door closes, another opens on the other side, yet where is all the brilliance, the light of Mithras, the significance of broken beams, homes, limbs, love and the splendor of birds?
One shattered window reflects the abhorrent stream of warfare, another, the many days of our repellent fear and reckless wrath. O, Constantine! Isn’t this enough?
I’ll believe in the god or goddess that brings peace to this, the broken casement crooned.
I’ll bow to the god who breathes clean air into our waters, the Silver Sillago said.
Then the pipes in the heavens fell open, beam’s dropped one by one exposing a scorched land and, like the dark, Erebos blanched when Ares puffed his chest in pride.
Cries of anguish began to break through the shadows. A weeping Artemis fled the darkness and howled. Goddess mother pinched the crimson cheek of the dead and dying and a mournful cry moved in the birth of blue.
And as the hearth of Rome opened to the other side soldiers cried out across the entombed land and bombs tossed back their gloomy veils so millions wouldn’t see the carnival of light.
I’ll kiss the feet of the god that smiles upon us,
I’ll pray to the one that molds bombs into blooms, blushed the child’s toy, whose cheeks were fiery red, lying against the splintered wall.
It is noteworthy. It is significant, these beams that tip a land in war. Important we remember the radiance of birds soaring through them, their gray and black wings pushing the persistent beam down like gods and goddesses. Each wing in formation with the next, waves crashing the shore, calling forth the sliding darkness. Bird and beam marching as one to snuff the hearth of Rome.
What of the light of Mithras marching over the sand, the consequence of the broken beams, homes, limbs, love and the splendor of birds, isn’t this enough?
© 2010 by mark prime
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