Damage Report For Ancient Babylon Poem by Joseph S. Josephides

The High Officer of UNESCO sneezes,
the dust of war insists to rest in his nose.
Difficult on TV to give an excuse for the tanks
as to how they transform the city into a garage.
The report reveals its pit, now like a scar,
the bricks with stone animals now are broken.

'They ruin the Ishtar Gate, the processional route,
the tanks dig and cut', a Greek man there voices out
‘you are but miserable traders of these monuments,
like Consul Cesnola, the robber of ancient Cyprus.’
‘May the dragon eat you up’, screams an attendant
and throws his boots to a diplomat sitting at the panel.

Nebuchadnezzar, was his name, coming from Babylon;
he held a brick engraved with numbers and letters,
the snake-dragon Marduk, the patron saint of the city.

The top Administrators left him free; were afraid of
his snake; if it had a virus, would destroy them all.


© JosephJosephides