of wars and divorce
by Dario Cvencek
I was 40 years old
when I got divorced
I am 45 now
my home country
was 45 years old
when it got divorced
my own personal divorce
was clean and somewhat
civil
the divorce of my country
was a clusterfuck
that’s what a war is:
a clusterfuck
of decency
a shitshow
of humanity
a bankruptcy of
morality
lately we’ve been watching
toxic marriages
between countries
in Eastern Europe
and the Middle East
fall apart
decades long
abusive relationships
between peoples
coming to a
boiling point
and just like in an actual divorce
the ones who suffer the most
are the children
we have gotten used to
seeing footage of
dead children
when I was growing up
during the war in Bosnia
the only dead children
you could see were
the ones you would see
with your own eyes
lying in the streets
or being pulled from
the rubble
and you could not
unsee it or get
used to it
now we’ve all gotten used to it
as a society
we are neglectful
towards the children
of the world
we deem some
children’s deaths
more tragic
than others
with our taxes
we finance the
killing of
countless
infidel
children
I’ve read recently
that parents in the
Middle East started
writing their children’s
names with permanent
markers on their legs
to ID them if
they are killed
I grew up in a war myself
my parents did not do that
think of it: we now kill
children in ways that make them
unrecognizable
just like what starts
as the love of your life
becomes unrecognizable
during the divorce
so too does our own humanity
become unrecognizable
during the war
a war is when a society
divorces itself
from reason
there is nothing civil about it
they say all is fair
in love and war
well…fuck those people
it shouldn’t be
none of it should be
happening
but it is
it is happening right
before our eyes
and as we watch it all unfold
we debate the pros and
cons and we take sides
as if there really are
any sides to take
I am on the side of children
all children who are still
alive, whether they have
their names written
on their legs or not
as an adult and especially
as a voting adult in this country
I feel ashamed
I feel powerless
I feel angry and
I feel afraid
but mostly I feel ashamed
how are you feeling?
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.