My Daughter Asks about some Bombs in Europe—Ben Myers

by Ben Myers

I don’t know what I am supposed to say,
the TV barking on its chain all day:
the black ski-masks, guns, bombs enough to blow
a block apart. The news reporters show
the piles of rubble raked in stacks like hay.

At bedtime, through debris, I pick my way –
the toys, books, clothes left on the floor from play –
and think, How to explain? Maybe you know;
I don’t. “Know what?”

my daughter says, “I think I want to stay
with you forever.” You will go away
and should, I think but hope the going will be slow.
When she’s asleep, I’ll close the book and go
back to my room, drop knees to rug and pray
I don’t know what.

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From The Family Book of Martyrs (Lamar University Literary Press, 2022)

Benjamin Myers is the director of OBU's Great Books Honors Program. He is the author of four books of poetry and two books of nonfiction, and he was the 2015-2016 poet laureate of the state of Oklahoma. His poems have appeared in The Yale Review, Image, The Christian Century, Rattle, and many other widely-circulated journals, and he has written essays for many prominent outlets, including First Things, The American Conservative, and The Gospel Coalition. Dr. Myers is a member of Chandler First Baptist Church, where he teaches adult Bible study and serves as a deacon.

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