Piker Press — Weekly Journal of Arts and Literature
April 27, 2026

Kids Don't Know

"...Why do man's bones remain?..."

Kids Don't Know

Kids don't know about warfare.
They don't know about NATO
     or how fire triggers.
Why is the fire ablaze?
Why does the fire flutter?
Why does the partially chopped leg not burn?
Why do man's bones remain?
Why does smoke keep rising?
Who burns again and again without a flame?
Kids don't know.

School walls collapse and crumble,
turning blackish in areas still standing.
     Playgrounds are turned into moats.
There is an orgy of destruction everywhere --
tossed shoes, legs, heads, gunpowder,
scattered bodies, and the
strange smell of burns.
Kids don't know.







Article © Dharmpal Mahendra Jain. All rights reserved.
Published in the September 5, 2022 issue .
Image(s) are public domain.
More by Dharmpal Mahendra Jain → More poetry → Full issue →
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