#MIDDLEBURY
Children of Aleppo
Chard deNiord
The children were asking
a thousand questions about why
the sky was blue and grass was green
when suddenly their tongues
were stilled by an answer they
never saw. Now silence rings
in their place so loud a stone
can hear it in Arkansas.
So why not the men inside
the sky who only hear the roar
beneath their wings that rip
the clouds? Who believe the distance
is theirs for the way it turns
the heavens into a high of feeling
nothing at all? In which
they have everywhere to turn
as excellent pilots – really
superb – with nowhere to go.
About this poem
“After reading several recent news stories about the targeted air strikes on schools, homes, and hospitals in the rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo, Syria, I felt compelled to write a poem as an act of witness to these horrific war crimes, focusing specifically on the hundreds of child casualties that have resulted from these bombings.” – Chard deNiord
About Chard deNiord
Chard deNiord is the author of “Interstate” (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015). He lives in Westminster West, Vt.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
(c) 2017 Chard deNiord. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
