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MERGE LITERARY MAGAZINE


SMOKE ON THE GROUND

By Hzal Anubewei 

I see a wasteland of bodies without heads
a generation disconnected from their ancestors
their heads split into degrees of pain and suffering
Released from broken buildings
words of fire escape
the sound of hip hop ripped from heads
floating in the hood
the nation of a brown skin people
whose child is missing
Angels fly on human rockets searching for souls
burning bodies just smoke on the ground
run into tomorrow
looking at yesterday
alive next door
the cycle of misery a treadmill that goes on and on
changing the song by switching the words
symphonies of discord grind on street corners
backed by the horns of gunshots
the syncopation of the rape of a nation  
the blood of passing made by holes in the back
lying men bring flowers smoking from gunfire
let me be the one who says it is time for us to stop
let me be the first one
and the last one to say I’m sorry
let me be the one
looking in the eyes of the brown nation
say joy has replaced sadness
say that the missing child
the messenger of hope is coming home 
a full grown man
the moment of healing 
resurrected ashes of burning bodies
smoke on the ground rises
evaporated by the light of the sun
ancestor receive us 
sing songs we haven’t heard before
the Cry of Beauty in a city of peace
 
​



  • HOME ISSUE #3
  • Mission and Content
  • About US
  • POETRY AND PROSE
  • BLACK MUSIC PHOTO ESSAY
  • ESSAYS ARTICLES AND FICTION
  • VISUAL ART GALLERY
  • BIOGRAPHIES
  • SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
  • Support Merge Literary Magazine
  • ISSUE #2 CELEBRATING BLACK WOMEN
  • FEATURED WRITERS AND ARTISTS
  • MERGE LITERARY MAGAZINE PRINT EDITION
  • Mission and Content
  • About US
  • POETRY
  • ESSAYS ARTICLES AND FICTION
  • Multimedia Art Review
  • PHOTOGRAPHY CELEBRATING BLACK WOMEN
  • ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
  • WRITERS AND ARTISTS BIOS
  • SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
  • ISSUE #1 POLITICAL AFFAIRS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
    • Mission and Content
    • About US
    • POETRY
    • PROSE
    • ART ILLUSTRATION
    • ESSAYS AND PLAY
    • MULTI-MEDIA QUILT REVIEW
    • WRITERS AND ARTISTS BIOS
    • SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
    • Support Merge Literary Magazine