J K L M N

The letters come crumbling down

as easily as walls. The air here

is infected with the saliva of

a zillion shrapnel. We once went

to school, we tell others. It's

mere gossip now, a lame joke

manually nurtured. Only J, K,

L, M and N still stand on a strip

of a wall that has survived shelling.

We scour them for lunch-time giggles.

They return only our unerring fear.

J for Jenin, J for jail, J for jeopardy

K for kaput

L for lame, L for lies,

M for madness, M for mayhem, M for mother, M for martyr, M for moaning, M for mourning, 

M for mornings we've lost forever.

N for Nobody -- who we are.