Daisy Bomb
By Mila D. Aguilar

I only heard this; I have no way

of verifying its authenticity.

In Baghdad during the Gulf War,

they say, within a meters-thick

bomb shelter the size of a mammoth hall,

women, children, the old and infirm

were gathered for protection

from deadly American weapons.

In their midst landed a daisy cutter,

which had bored through the thick concrete

willy-nilly, without effort, with little compunction.

Daisy—as in my mother's lazy daisy,

which effortlessly serves those

who wish to eat, sup and sap, devour-

landed, but just lay there.

The community laughed, thinking

the fearful thing was a dud.

They did not know what happened after.

Having heard the gentile laughter,

Daisy proceeded to turn round again,

releasing her deadly venom as she did,

with great force plastering

the women, children, old and infirm

on the walls of the shelter.

The fossils are still there, they say,

monuments to great American might.

I only heard this, mind, and have

no way of verifying its authenticity.

I can only pray

it won't happen in my own land.

© Mila D. Aguilar