ALEPPO

 Experts say if the stones remain

 What was within can be restored,

 But they make bombs now

 That can penetrate

 The strongest cover;

 Expensive but occasionally

 They use them.

 

 And lives destroyed

 Cannot be recreated

 By mechanical diggers,

 Architects or builders;

 Only silent museums

 Filled with the debris

 Of destruction.

 

 The busy souk has gone

 From the narrow alleyways

 Of this old city

 And our footsteps echo

 In a dismal emptiness;

 Where once were traders

 We see only soldiers.

 

(c) David Subacchi.2016