99 RED BALLOONS

             “Panic bells,

signal red alert”

and are remnants of a city lost in sand.

Too many bodies dipped in red

lie under a desert sky.

From balloons of WWII

we have moved to modern Baghdad.

In bone drying heat,

In sand storms

clouding eyes.

“shon fette Bente” – show bold Betty

hiding from lingering blasts

that break crimson

in night clouds.

99 balloons beyond a dream

are cutting visions

before my eyes.

You see red

as night carries on;.

 I tie yellow ribbons instead.

“As 99 red balloons go by”

carrying messages or names

of those who lived or died.

“99 Luftballoons”

color an expanding sky.

 (NOTE - 99 Balloons was a German anti-war song)