There was a boy jumping up and down, visible in the corner of the CCTV screen. Despite the blur and grain of the footage, you know he is happy playing so close to a wall.
In a split second a bomb sent by Israel with the intent to kill randomly lands and blows up near the top of the screen. Everything shakes and crumbles as the blast sends shards and dust flying.
The boy disappears. The CCTV does not capture sound, just images.
This is how a life is erased.
About matangmanok
Jim Pascual Agustin writes and translates poetry. Sometimes he tries his hand at essays and stories.
His latest book is BLOODRED DRAGONFLIES, published by Deep South in South Africa. Check out the official blog page for Bloodred Dragonflies.
In 2011 the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House in Manila released BAHA-BAHAGDANG KARUPUKAN (poems in Filipino) and ALIEN TO ANY SKIN (poems in English). The same publisher released his most recent poetry collections SOUND BEFORE WATER and KALMOT NG PUSA SA TAGILIRAN. In 2015 a new poetry collection in English, A THOUSAND EYES was released. His first collection of short stories in Filipino, SANGA SA BASANG LUPA, was released in 2016. UK publisher The Onslaught Press launches his poetry collection, WINGS OF SMOKE, worldwide in February 2017. San Anselmo Publications released HOW TO MAKE A SALAGUBANG HELICOPTER & OTHER POEMS in 2019 followed by CROCODILES IN BELFAST & OTHER POEMS in 2020 - both books can be purchased through their Facebook page.
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Matangmanok 
October 27th, 2023 at 11:06
This war against children is heartbreaking.