Sniper
                     -Gaza, March of Return 2018

At 700 meters,
the image remains
picture-like, alien,
with no voice.
A bullet is the fine point
of a rebuttal
to a remote argument.
 
At 500 meters,
the image gestures wildly
in its silence.
A bullet will erase
the troubling lines of a face,
the widening of its eyes.
 
At 300 meters,
the image has a faint voice,
but no language.
A bullet will prevent
words forming in the ear.
 
At 100 meters,
--fire godammit!
 
the bullet prevents
the odor of sweat,
a recognition of eye color,
the blush in his face
of pride and despair--
and answers smartly
the stone the boy threw