The Girl in the Picture, by Sarah Russell

The Terror of War, by Nick Ut (USA, b. Vietnam). 1972.

The Girl in the Picture
June 7, 1972

Gasoline and soap make napalm --
sticks like glue, burns alive.
Collateral children scream,
"Nóng quá, nóng quá!"

The photo almost wasn't published --
atrocities of war sell papers.
But nudity? A bare child screaming  
Nóng quá, nóng quá?

Too hot, too hot!

Sarah Russell
     
Sarah Russell’s poetry and short fiction have been published in Kentucky Review, Red River Review, Misfit Magazine, Rusty Truck, The Ekphrastic Review, Psaltery and Lyre, and many other journals and anthologies. She was recently nominated for a 2017 Pushcart Prize. Sarah blogs at SarahRussellPoetry.net.