Red War… A Poem Of Loss And Death
Red fire pours across a flowered field, licking to blaze all
It does touch. Ravens caw above cindered ashes, coal wings surfacing
On air. A young girl stares, pale-eyed as clouds, blinking against the fall
Of rain. Flutter of yarn — whisking, wispy soul along the wind; how does
Your story end? In orange flame, your screams sounded to extinguish
Fallen grey in brittle bone within a caved-in house to which a childhood burned out.
Oh, so small, the child’s ghost, the little girl who watches smoke, seeing all she knows
Crushed beneath the soldier’s note and battle cry of bombs.
Look out, look out, look out — Young soldier
Watch yourself as the bombs descend and the bullets fly anew
This firefight that was commanded, this battled war won’t end
You cannot run far as body rips to tear from soul
The armor slashed, the limbs fly by and mangle as your screams are hardly heard
Who are you in your final moments?
Where are you in the dirt?
The burning smoke engulfs young trees, and survivors fight to breathe
Yet the ghost is there and takes your hand, the child’s look does smile
And down you go into all hell as the life you took rises higher.
Hello! We’re D.J. Hoskins
We are Davena and Jason Hoskins, co-authors of 30+ books and siblings who write under the pseudonym D.J. Hoskins. Three years apart and in our twenties, we have been fascinated by stories from a young age. Davena is a student attending Princeton University, and Jason attends Georgetown University.
