For Bucha

my voice

cracks

as i

say the

word

bucha

like

auschwitz

birkenau

rwanda

or a thousand

other tragedies

we watched

unfold

promising

ourselves

this time

would be

different

promising

ourselves

WE

would be

different

when we

aren’t

better

than

a public

execution

WE

cannot

learn to be righteous

and ignore

beheadings

in the street.

Ⓒ Ben Ditmars 2022