Morning Newsflash

Why does my generation
with the gradation of the skin tone I have
olive based- you ask obsess over the last words said
before the shot, as if this time words can be an answer

newsflash: words aren't always the answer
in a report earlier today they said, half the city is dying
the other half is already dead. I knew, you could tell
that death rises a little out like the morning

to pluck, to reap, to use all those agricultural terms
you use to make it easier for yourself to be consoled
by the idea that banters you, that lets you know
you don't always have the right words

sometimes you do not even have the words
or the struggle to wake up in the morning
shake the ash that piles onto your face,
from the debris of houses, demolished over your head

there are stories you need to remember, facts that you need to forget
like the words the announcer repeats, like a second Hiroshima
half the youth of this city are dying,
the other half is already dead.