Subdue It

by Helen Bar-Lev

Slice it

divide it

bite into it

set fire to it

shoot it

bomb it

behead it

enslave it

freeze it

heat it

waste it

deface it

chop it down

smoke it up

an earthquake

will swallow it up

a flood will

wash away the blood

while the poles melt down

and the polar bears drown

Quick now

subdue it

what’s that,

you can’t do it?

it’s gotten out of hand

well, abandon it

inhabit another planet

ruin that one too

* * * * *

© 2.2017 Helen Bar-Lev

"Subdue It" first appeared in the chapbook: Piping at the End of Days, A Book of Overcoming, collected and edited by Katherine L. Gordon (Valley Press, Ontario, Canada)

Helen Bar-Lev was born in New York in 1942. www.helenbarlev.com  She holds a B.A. in Anthropology, has lived in Israel for 46 years and has had over 90 exhibitions of her landscape paintings, 34 of which were one-woman shows. Her poems and artwork have appeared in numerous online and print anthologies. Six poetry collections, all illustrated by Helen. She is the Amy Kitchener senior poet laureate. Helen was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2013 and is the recipient of the Homer European Medal for Poetry and Art. Helen is Assistant to the President of Voices Israel. She lives in Metulla, Israel.