Hallelujah these hearts won with ordinance.

The latest reports say the ICBM is

democratic.

If the approval rating dips,

we’ll fly sorties over

the cribs of sleeping children

in machines we name Hornet or Blackbird or Mustang.

They will carry blood-red rubies in their mouths,

rain under wings,

and ghosts in their manes.

***

Kyle Vaughn’s poems have recently appeared in Adbusters, The Boiler, and Vinyl; his prose in English Journal; and his photography in Annalemma and Holon.  His book A New Light in Kalighat, featuring photos and stories about the children of sex workers and crematory workers in Kolkata, India, was published in 2013 and featured by Nicholas Kristof’s Half the Sky Movement.  His book of poetry writing exercises, The Genesis Writing Project, is forthcoming from NCTE.