Tragedy And Truth Poem by Sara Militello

Tragedy and Truth

A muted scream pierces the night
echoes of a wound protesting-
a redux beyond repeal
impaled on the cosmic fabric of already:

Brute force a stalking ogre
raw and not so malfeasant
a primordial fear easily ignited
using and casting asunder its own
in subtle -and not so, erosions
nevertheless an unfulfilled seeker
of fresh objects to hate.

In the zoo that exalts a stance
where force alone is King
and Academia dons the cant
of a mighty poseur
the unwary, seduced by smooth operators
in dead-eye aim,
cast a neo-tragic penumbra
of tears and gore that condemns.

Doubters of this background
to a million tears in a sea of more
about a force bound to maim
and too set to bend, need only bind
with the powers that be to find
tragedy and truth in history's claims.

April 1993