Children of Gaza

Beneath the dusty streets where children play
the twilit baneful torture tunnels lay
where many innocents are laid to rot
among them, some still breathe but countless not.

Among the dusty streets, the children act
their role to maximize a shock impact
on our naive, jaundiced media types
greedily turning up to earn their stripes.

Amidst the dusty streets, the children shield
the homes where missile launchers are concealed;
not one child wished to execute this role;
expect to pay the devastating toll.

In dusty streets, now innocence is lost
and children’s lives are nonchalantly tossed,
by tribes with little desire to debate,
upon the altar of ancestral hate.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

Poem

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Caliri Avatar
February 23, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Congrats Terry on placing 3rd in my contest out of 35 entries!! Well-rhymed, excellent word choice.
Miller Avatar
March 24, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Thank you so much Matt I appreciate your kind words and high placement, and thank you for running this interesting contest
Etgen-Baker Avatar
September 14, 2025 at 5:13 PM
captivating and engaging poem, Terry. The children of Gaza--what sadness I feel for them and for any children of war...made into statistics and collateral damage. best wishes with the contest
Miller Avatar
September 15, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Thank you Sara
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