boots
heels strike hard
against city streets
beneath their weight
lies the blood
of children
caught in the crossfire
of human greed
boots
heels strike hard
chiraq to la
gang border wars
death’s small bags
sold and bought
this is civil war
where are our troops
boots
heels strike hard
spin doctors’ barrage
has replaced truth
all is well
ask the dead
but they have no voice
so listen to me
boots
heels strike hard
against your eardrums
the dead call out
this is war
and we are
losing the battle
to save children’s lives
Read Between the Minds 
We ARE losing the battle. 😦
Charles, thanks for your work on Bardo today.
it is vivid in imagery on a war….thanks.
Great!
Boots heels strike hard got going in my mind for a time.
.
The music of the repetition carries the hard truths here, pounding them, pounding them. Well done, sir.
reminded me of Syria, I really wonder what is happening there!
There are no foreign wars now.
I wasn’t familiar with Chiraq, so I had to look it up, and I learned about this nickname for Chicago. In looking up the term, I found a documentary on the gun violence in Chicago that’s worth checking out: http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2013/08/chi-raq-documentary-chicago-gun-violence-will-robson-scott.
Gangs are a big problem in many of our cities, know we have too many in my city in the mid west
the crossfire
of human greed….that’s a worse war than that with guns and on battlefields..
very striking use of the boots imagery – has a military and gang association which is very effective for the overall theme of the poem
War is when the state tells you who the enemy is. Revolution is when we figure it out for ourselves.
“spin doctors” galore
even the vultures cry
no more war
yes, we are. why can’t we turn our eyes back home, and lead by example not arms.