Casualties of Terror: Kunduz Airstrike, 10/3/2015

We bombed a hospital, perhaps in error.

Human shields? Certainly they shielded
humans. When the enemy is terror,
There is no reasonable doubt. We all have yielded
to this internal foe, rapid-firing
hearts under quivering ribs and shoulder blades.
Guilt is presumed, and there's no use inquiring,
no innocence: we are all afraid.

Oh, by the rockets' red glare, can you say

what this blood-streaked banner ought to mean?

Too many of the brave and the free now lay

obscured in dust. Their bright stars shine unseen,

while underneath the bleak unspangled night,

we bow before the power of our fright.