ELOPE by Bruce Michael Foley

48752040

ELOPE

for a Pakistani girl burned alive

I’m writing down the horror.

The ignorance of men, Pakistan
rewarding love with charred remains;
fanatical flames become a kiss of death
consuming innocent skin.

Rifles and rockets are not enough in this land
to promote and sustain the masculine.

Now comes this council of law, made of
archaic, barbaric men,
pouring fuel and burning fires
to oppress the weak and the feminine.

Here, they wear a mask of Allah
made in their own image it seems.
Here, where every man is less a man,
for playing god with gasoline.

indexI was born across the bridge from Boston, Massachusetts, in Cambridge, as July 4th fireworks exploded over the Charles River, just a stone’s throw from Harvard University. At age two, my family moved to Somerville, Ma.,where I was raised in a rough blue-collar environment, playing many sports. In 1998 I relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, I work among special needs children and teach martial arts. Poetry began in high school, but took off in a more dedicated way in later years, along with resuming music studies, guitar. My poems are published in various anthologies; including Impressions, Prism, and the Mighty Voices Of Thunder Series, sponsored by the international poetry website, “Allpoetry.” I was a featured poet in Lyrical Somerville February 2015, a Boston based publication, as well as being an “Editor’s Front Page Pick,” for the month of March 2016 on Allpoetry. A defining moment that contributed significantly to further interest in writing was a First Place Award from the International Poetry Fellowship, for my poem, “Among Fields of Cotton.” Presently, I am happy to have the opportunity to explore various forms of poetry with Mr. Bruce Isaacson, Poet Laureate of Clark County Nevada.

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