The news is stained again
with the atrocities of demons
and it could be Attila the Hun himself this time
who has returned to puppet some flesh
with a taste for suffering.
I look at my son’s face
as he drives a Tupperware lid
across a track made of socks
he pulses with goodness
I want to fall on my knees
and beg for answers
when does it happen
the descent into darkness
the retreat of mercy.
When Attila died on his wedding day
choked on a nose bleed
did everyone smirk
and say he had it coming
the barbarous snake
or was there someone who wept
his mother perhaps
remembering the softness of his face
when he slept.