to

      MOLOCH

Military idolatry.

This rain of fire

fell on the city.

The men, the women

and the children struck

began to burn in a coating

of white phosphorous.

Bodies, clothes largely intact,

skin dissolved, caramelized,

some still in their beds,

in fact, human remains

the consistency of leather

bore the mark of Cain,

the obscene burn signature

             of

        MOLOCH

          melting

    flesh to the bone

         groaning

         moaning

         MOLOCH

         Fire bomb.

          Napalm.

  White phosphorous

        incendiaries.

      Military idolatry.

          MOLOCH

         in the bible

an idol of the Ammonites

           MOLOCH

      to whom children

       were righteously

           sacrificed

                by

             burning

Vi Ransel lives in New York, and can be reached at: rosiesretrocycle@yahoo.com.

Other Poems by Vi Ransel

* DUH?
* Sumeriology
* Poor in America -- P.I.A.
* The Treadmill
* The Driver