white robes cast in red

white robes cast in red

 

 

 

Christ-like composure

the man with the golden poetry book

in hand,

reading verse

as bombs decree

there will be no peace

Churches will be obliterated

religion as an excuse for warfare

 

he reads some lines

just before his lips are blown off

his teeth scattered

the book in pieces on the ground

as the newscaster

trudges through the rubble

of another annihilation

of human life

 

there are plenty of loaves and fishes

but no one left to feed

 

what kind of miracle is that?

 

 

erin-cilberto

10/14/23

Reviews

[Chrissie Muldoon]

'There are plenty of loves and fishes, but no one left to feed.' What an emotional gut punch.

Such simplicity in expressing the pain of pointless conflict, doing all of the harm to innocents, yet none at all to those who declare it. Also, the strange sterility that is required of those who report it, needing to report 'only facts', though the stripping of emotion for the sake of objective journalism could indeed be seen as the stripping of humanity.
Honestly, just.... wow.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your very kind review, Chrissie.
j.

[John Sullivan]

Amazing and timely piece. I can't help but think of Gaza. Nobody wins

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your understanding words, John,
j.

[willweb]

It feels as though you dug deep for these thoughts but I know they easily bubbled to the top and you just had to release them. Such a dark and lonely poem that is so filled with truth, there is no room for fiction.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, will, they did bubble up.
thank you,
j.

[Desert Knave]

So very stark with all that is happening in our world. Very nicely written. ~Jim

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Jim.
j.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Wow Jacob this is a powerful comentary on the current situation in the world, especially Gaza. You evoke such images and mix in that religious and biblical overtone. The image of the good poet being blown to smitherines is devastating and leaves the reader bereft of hope for peace. You have keyed an iconic line of poetry to end with in "There are plenty of loaves and fishes/ but no one left to feed."

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thanks John...it is awful...violence and lack of love all over the world..chaos.
j.

[John the Baptist]

"There are plenty of loaves and fishes/ but no one left to feed." That may be the most ironic line I have encountered since I started writing here.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, John...
j.

[Relic]

The whole thing is so sad. I have no words anymore. Each new story of bombs being dropped and children being killed goes by me like a long train with no end. I'm becoming numb to it.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Unfortunately, I am too, Relic.
tough times.
j.

[John]

The poet's voice is cut off by the violent destruction of the organs of speech. It presents an horrific image, and yet the tone is one of sorrow more than anger. Perhaps prompted by the current conflict in the Middle East, the poem, I think rightly, acknowledges that religious differences is just one among many excuses for war. The 'no one left to feed' suggests the aftermath of Armageddon, the total elimination of humanity and perhaps all life on Earth. The wry question that closes the poem could never be asked by the newshound, blundering through the scenes of destruction. Only the Christ-like poet can make us feel and reflect on the ultimate nature of humanity.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

You are such an insightful reviewer, John...
Thank you so much for these words,
j.

[Matthew Kult]

Angrily frustrated. Viciously demanding.

Great read.

With love,

Matthew

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Matthew.
j.

[Sami Khalil]

An excellent poem with a great message. Tit for tats are man's ways of revenge killings; they take it out on the innocent ones. Wars and rumors of war are on the horizon.
We need peaceful and legitimate solutions to conflicts, not revenge killings in an endless cycles.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

we surely do, Sami....we surely do.

j.

[Sami Khalil]

Indeed, we pray and voice them loudly to stop the madness on both sides.
You are welcome sir Jacob.