When Words Fall Short

I've been quiet too long

Letting the words sit idle

Choked up, suffocating on my tongue

Waiting for them to be perfect,

But there are no words for this.

No literary devices to exact the right tone,

Only eyes to watch the world burn

To see survivors turn to killers

And brace for allies bombing allies...

Only eyes to shed tears over graves 

Where countless bodies are stripped of name

And watch the lights go out...

One after another they wax cold—

There are no words in this darkness

Nothing strong enough to lift murmured cries

Nor loud enough to drown out prattling hate.
Illumination will not come from speech,
This time, we need a sword.