powdered concrete. quashes/fills mouth. eyes. ears. nose. blood. milked by missiles. ’til it. dampens the earth. a father. likens extracting the body. of. his. son. to pulling. out the root of his heart. his heart. his heart in the. dirt plugging. the lips. of his son. 10-year-old. daughter cradles the. shoes. of her mother all. she has left. keening in. dirt. over grey. powdered ghost shoes. medic delivers. foetus. to hands of. man in the dirt. mother laboured ’til. the dirt overtook. her. a truck. delivers. 170 bodies. decomposing. nameless. reeking of the. world’s disinterest. survivors stand. at gravesites to. provide last rites. to. unidentified body pieces robbed. of their rights. while those of us. with mouths. unblocked have. rights. obligations. to speak ever. louder like. journalists. who gave. their lives. unprotected by. Press Vests and. their best. intentions. listed by International Federation of Journalists. including the method of murder. Mohamd Al-Salhi bullet…Samer Abu Daqqar missile strike on hospital…Rizq Al-Gharabli bomb…Mohamed El-Reefi bullet while collecting flour from aid delivery…Saher Akram Rayan while assisting neighbour…. Haider Ibrahim al-Masdar strike on media tent…Wafa Abu Dabaan in refugee camp…Hamza Abdul Rahman Murtaja airstrike on school…Abdullah Shakshak quadcopter…all relying on. truth to prevail. orphans and. widows distraught. desperate. for their. pleas. to extract compassion. from the. other side of the. screens in safe homes white. homes. like writers/actors/artists. attempting to voice. the opposite. to. the dominant narrative. speak true. it doesn’t always. go well. the powerful get antsy. join to create elaborate. stories. to confuse you. or don’t even bother to. say anything at all. which is the best way. to. shut. down. debate. about the start and the date. the value of. some lives. over others. followed by disingenuous claims. to integrity. veracity. the tyrannous. relying on lies. reversing the narrative. about who is. suffering. and who’s not. still. the truth remains. bare.