Death by Ideology

Wounded, the world has been pulled into the war
of words used as weapons, a fight for the future—

the villain, a caliphate with a brutal creed 
of enslaving women for blasphemous sex,

and dictating what is righteous, who
must face the sentence of vicious murder.

Preying on the young and disgruntled,
with each prayer call of resentment,

these unholy recruiters fill hearts with hatred,
twist boys into agents of bloodshed.

Fed by digital supply chains of propaganda,
masked soldiers of misfortune slander Allah

as they lob death over invisible enemy lines—
sorties perpetrated as coordinated suicides.

In cities around the world, unaware 
they have wandered onto the virtual battlefields

of a marketplace or a night on the town, 
hundreds of innocents die needless deaths.

Hearing the news, survivors rush 
to text and message familiar versions

of scene after gruesome scene:
Car bombs. Kalashnikovs. Casualties. Candles.

…and in Paris a weary mother endures the temper tantrum
of her defiant son and urges, utilise des mots!

Anne McCrady
Tyler, TX USA
Donated to Childreach International