Salvo for Aleppo

O’ Khalpe, Hadad, Beroea, Alep,¹
You have suffered, are weary White² Friend,
O’ Ancient City where the Silk Road ends
Where White Helmets³ search scree for signs of breath;

Ahmed and Anya⁴ have been laid to rest, 

Admiral Grigorovich⁵ leaves the Black Sea,
Trump declares National Security,
Your state of being, is the next test;

From the Citadel the battle cry blares,
The soks⁶ are rubble, the walls caved to dust,
There are no safety zones, no peace in mosques,
Those who stay, bury, cloaked in grief and prayers:

No child of God should suffer this horror,⁷
Remaining souls drift, exist as shadows,
Soaking rags to thwart a menace they know,⁸
Where, Alep, is your balm, your tomorrow?

(Written April 2017)

^1.  The various names that Aleppo has been called through the ages.
^2. Aleppo is known as the White One because of its marble deposits.
^3. Some who search the rubble for survivors don white helmets.
^4. Names of the two babies found among the dead – the result of a gas attack on Syria in April 2017.
^5. Admiral Grigorovich is the name of a U.S. destroyer.
^6. Soks are the popular market stalls.
⁷ Part of Trump’s speech as validation for his retaliatory strike on Syrian forces.
^8. This is what Syrians did to try to defend against another gas attack.