James Valvis - One Poem

Weapons of Greater Destruction

While we are concerned with weapons

Of mass destruction, let us remember

Also the weapons of greater destruction:

The lie, the slander, the knife in the back,

The horror of a child's blackened eyes

At the hands of his father, not to mention

Simple avarice, gluttony, pride, jealousy,

The strange, arrogant belief that we alone

Know the Mind of God, all the deadly sins

Of which we are human, inhuman bombs,

Aimed at each other, pointed at ourselves,

In our homes, at our work, in our countries.

I have a feeling that, if only we could

Cure ourselves of the weapons of greater

Destruction, all the other weapons

Would take care of themselves, though,

Even with the air yellow with nerve gas,

The small pox virus, and nuclear radiation,

You see I am not holding my breath.

James Valvis is the author of HOW TO SAY GOODBYE (Aortic Books, 2011). He has published hundreds of poems in places like Anderbo, Arts & Letters, New York Quarterly, Poetry East, River Styx, and Verse Daily. He lives in Issaquah, Washington.