newspoem 5/20/07

Telempathy
by William Gillespie and Dirk Stratton

telepathy or body language, empathy or fear:
human interconnectivity is given
even a frown burns
how do 600,000 casualties feel?
how do 600,000 casualties think?
why people stop writing poetry?
with each slain on the opposite hemisphere a neuron expires
slain slides into stain and stars go dark -
heartworms crawl into snailshells
thicken skins in citizen calcification
one hurts; 600,000 numbs
600,000 numbers mean sums don't translate
but sum things buzz in our skulls
crushing numbers crunching
skulls full of dying neurons staining
the bone with dissipated memories
we are one, we are lost