While Taking A Bite Of My Sloppy Felafel Pita Poem by Mark Pollins

while taking a bite of my sloppy felafel pita
while wiping the windscreen-wipers of my new car
while lying on the beach in the hot, hot sun
while reading all the right articles in the right paper
while contemplating how the local Jazz scene has bloomed
while stroking the back of my daughter's neck
while buying the fatter cheese at the supermarket
while watching the fifth re-run of Seinfeld on cable-t.v.
while making tender love with my love
Blood is flowing in the dust-alleys of Azza.*

Children are dying, crying silently in Azza,
for I have pressed 'mute' on my t.v. remote control