boom-boom-boom
by Dario Cvencek
Kemal Monteno sang:
“G D
if you ask me where I’m now
G D
I’m not leaving my hometown
Am D G D
everything that’s dear to me is here
G D
if you ask me how I’m doing
G D
if only two bombs exploded
Am
near you
D G D
in an instant you’d know how”
Kemo knew that bombs
exploding near you
cannot be described
with words
this act can only be known
and you store that knowledge
deep inside your bones
as a trauma for the next
generation to heal
and fireworks never
make sense to you again
what you see in the movies
or news reporting
is not how it feels
it feels like the fabric
of reality is ripping
right before your eyes
which in a way it is
because your reality is
never the same afterwards
the parameters of your
familiar surroundings
have been irrevocably
altered
it feels like your life is
fast forwarding in a
violently
loud way
and at the same time
it feels like someone
hit the pause button
the buzzing of the city
– paused!
the chirping of the birds
– paused!
the laughter of the children
– paused!
I’ve been inside an anechoic
chamber (“world’s quietest
room”) and that silence does
not compare to the silence
of an entire city right before
it gets shelled
I’d rather be writing about
city life bird songs and
children’s games
but I write about
silence instead
because when cities in
faraway countries are being
bombed to ruins –
silence is consent
if only two bombs exploded
near you
in an instant you’d know how
Photo of Dario Cvencek
BIO: Dario Cvencek is an immigrant poet from the Balkans. He started writing poetry in high school, inspired by his growing up during the Bosnian War in the 1990s, and his subsequent experiences as a refugee of war and an immigrant in Germany and the United States. In his poems, he explores the themes of war, trauma, healing, identity, gun violence, immigration, nature, and love. His work has appeared in Rising Phoenix Review, Ambrosia Zine, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, Ancient Tech News, Beyond Words Magazine, ANARKISS Magazine, The Split Mind, and others. “PTSD Martini” (Carbonation Press, 2025) is his first full-length collection of poetry. He lives and works in Seattle, WA.