No Shows

The pirate captains
of Israel’s apartheid
battleship of state
sail upon the same

dead seas of hate
once plied by South
Africa’s blood-fisted
predators, so, of course,

they will not, cannot,
attend Nelson Mandela’s
funeral services. How
could they when they

despise everything the
man and the millions
who struggled with him
stood for: an end to

the murderous racial
oppression of whole
peoples by merciless
police-enforced

colonizers. While
the West Bank
and Gaza burn
with the same

grizzly disease,
Israel and her
enemies of freedom
would stand exposed

as the criminals they
are and shamed
in the shadow of
Mandela’s greatness.

Paul Lojeski's poetry has appeared in journals and online. He’s also the author of the satiric novel, The Reverend Jimmy Pup. He lives with his wife and daughter in Port Jefferson, NY. Read other articles by Paul.