Clouds of War

Submitted by Shaun Clamp

Dense nuclear plumes
towered in the dry, hot sky.
Stark expressions: the power of war.

Later by the window, a cracking
The first shell,
then the slew of ammunition
battering the roof, glancing off glass,
dousing the parched white walls; ceramic sheen
reflecting vaguely the sky.

And green trees dripped
And the white carcass of a spider suckled in vain
At a drop that was stuck the other side of the pane,
And harder it rained,
And darker it became.

Photo credit: Gassed – John Singer Sargent