Shajareh Tayebeh Primary School
The students are all girls ages 7 to 12.The first attack comes about 10:00 a.m.
The second comes shortly thereafter
as first responders, those who’ve survived,
and others nearby rush to try to help—
a deliberate tactic called “double tap”
designed to inflict maximum carnage.
One graphic photo shows a child’s
severed arm, another a bloody backpack.
This is what passes for foreign policy.
This is how we defend our nation.
This is what our taxes are buying.
This is what Congress refuses to stop.
This is what the world sees of us.
Take a good look.
This is what we are.
William “Bill” Daniel Ehrhart is an American poet, writer, scholar, and Vietnam veteran. He received the Purple Heart Medal and the Navy Combat Action Ribbon for his service in Vietnam. He holds a PhD from the University of Wales at Swansea. Ehrhart has been called “the dean of Vietnam war poetry” and is the author of more than 30 books, including Vietnam Perkasie: A Combat Marine Memoir, Passing Time: Memoir of a Vietnam Veteran Against the War, Busted: A Vietnam Veteran in Nixon’s America, and Thank You for Your Service: Collected Poems. His most recent book is What We Can and Can’t Afford: Essays on Vietnam, Patriotism, and American Life(McFarland, 2023).
