After Viewing “TIME, A Decade of War in Iraq: The Images That Moved Them Most”

by Anthony Moll

What do we name our defeat
in view of captured visions radiating
beneath a decade of debris?

In Sadr City, Rena slumps with dejection
after losing leg and child to shelling.
What do we name our defeat?

Bridges cross black water where defiled
bodies pose burnt and hanging
beneath a decade of debris.

The young widow lies with the deceased
in a meadow of white grave markers weeping.
What do we name our defeat?

A star-spangled rag decorates
the stone face of an autocrat watching
beneath a decade of debris.

When asked to baptize, we will describe
Old Glory printed on prosthetic limbs saluting.
What do we name our defeat
beneath a decade of debris?

Anthony Moll is a Californian expatriate living in Baltimore. His work has recently been published in Seltzer Zine, Gertrude Journal and Baltimore Fishbowl. Anthony escaped both military service (he was a military working dog handler in the Army) and the D.C. non-profit scene to pursue an MFA with the University of Baltimore.