After The Killing Poem by RIC BASTASA

after the killing of his parents
shall the killer say
that he is an orphan
to be pitied?

after the cruelty
shall cruelty be understood
and be forgiven?

ask those who mourn
those who scream in pain
those who know not what humanity is all about

ask those who bury their dead
without names without faces without hands
without brains without intestines
ask those whose genitals were riddled with bullets
stained with the sperm of the monsters
ask those who cannot be silent anymore

perhaps there is reason for that tooth for a tooth
an eye for an eye
a chunk of flesh for another chunk of flesh