IRAQ; THE DEAD CANNOT COME BACK

The dead in Iraq cannot come back.
Their bodies are scattered and shattered,
blood is splattered.
They are victims
slaughtered
by their Iraqi enemy
in their native land,
victims whom we had saved
from enslavement Saddam Hussein,
butcher of Baghdad.
It happens
every hour of every day.
Death is just a way of life
in this never ending strife.

The suicide squads are partners
in a massive jihad
that soaks the sand
with a brothers' blood,
innocent youths,
bearded souls
in search of truth,
children just learning
how to pray and play,
mothers, wives who gave their lives
while shopping for their families.
There are so many dead,
it is said,
that an escalating body count
surmounts efforts
to find space
in morgues or mortuaries.
Bodies stacked in blazing sun
rot within hours
after they are shot,
beaten or burned
or dumped half waiting to die.

Words smuggled out about numbers,
seldom names.
Many bodies go unclaimed,
unrecognized,
future dreams unrealized.
Scores and scores,
victims of persecution,
execution,
hands lashed behind backs,
bodies slashed and hacked,
some barely still alive,
wracked in pain. heads filled with bullet holes,
most slaughtered in tribal rivalry,
some believed murdered by GIs
or other allies
in the war of liberation.
It's estimated more civilians have been slain
by "friendly" fire
and assassination
in this war than in the entire reign
of Saddam Hussein.

How many dead?
The U. S. won't tell
the truth about this living hell.
But numbers are reported,
possibly distorted.
This much is known:
over 300,000 Iraqis
dead since liberation
and occupation
in Baghdad alone.

Many deaths
not included,
only alluded to.
Who can say?
Totals change
day by day.
Truth defies the knowing.
Fatalities keep growing.
Where is this war going?
Words cannot define the tragedy.
Nothing you can hear or see
can adequately
describe this wasted war's futility.
It is beyond mere man's ability.

* * *
One desperate Iraqi wrote: "Please let people know what is happening to my country." This is what I am trying to do. Let people know.

Perhaps this form of verse, unlike endless words of prose, drab in their recitation of cold facts and description of horrendous acts, might lack necessary impact. Presenting this in rhyme may turn some on, some off. Do you agree or disagree? My words were inspired by reasonable accounts of this tragic moment in history. I have tried to do it accurately.

Did this piece enhance or detract from the serious severity of this war? Please share your thoughts with me and bloggers everywhere.
---WEGADS