Babalon’s Army
By
Jennifer Angelina Petro
Children shout children from flung open windows,
Armies forge invoking demons, hands steady
On pulled-back bows.
Spit curses, falchions sharp-shooting sparks.
Mercy inhaled, shouted Desperta Ferro! slams echoes
Through backyards, and skulls, and car-lined streets.
Try as you might, you cannot hide
Face down to your phones,
Try as you might you cannot hide
The evidence of what you have done
And what you have failed to do.
Vengeance opens its terrible maw—
Scream, thunder, scream.
Bones will snap, heads be crushed,
Blood revelations will bloom on your walls.
The children will set fire to your beds
While you sleep, while you nightmare.
Stars will fall, skylines will be razed, houses burned,
The reassembled dead will shake off the dirt
And grin grins of sickles and shivs.
Your children’s eyes follow your every move,
Guns trained, triggers pulled, arrows sharp,
Swords aloft, war-paint black as night.
Uncrouch, hands up, heads down, and run.
Slaughter is coming for you.