I am embedded in this war
Its unholy tentacles encircle me, suck me dry
Leaving only room for its latest images
Young soldiers with dazed faces
Old generals saying it’s all going just as planned.

I am with our convoy that took
a wrong turn in the desert
It plays like a movie in my mind
There is darkness and swirling sand
I cry out Don’t turn there! Not there!

I have memorized the strange names of
Cities I never learned in school
Mosul, Najaf, Nassiriyah, Kirkuk
Basra, Samawa, Karbala
Where can their mothers and children hide?

We are carefully informed of all the ways
We have to rain sorrow
The latest models of tanks, bombers,
Helicopters and machine guns
So advanced in terror are we it is terrifying.

Don’t worry, we are told. Go about your business.
The battle of Baghdad is about to begin.
That city isn’t on fire, Rumsfeld insists
It only looks that way
The emperor is magnificently clothed.

We are all embedded now
War is blinding, claiming hearts and minds
Sorrow shrouds their land and ours
Blood drips from hands on both sides
There aren’t tears enough to wash it off.

Have mercy on us
God of all that is
But I wonder, is it too late for that?