Shadow War: A Poetic Chronicle of September 11 and Beyond, Vol. 4

Starting on April 22, 2002, and concluding on June 16, 2002, Louis Daniel Brodsky's Shadow War, Volume Four traces the primary sources of terrorism that erupted in America on September 11: Israel, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. These poems describe, in bold detail, the desperation of Palestinians and Israelis trying to survive what appears to be an intractable knot of hatred and retaliation. Suicide bombers, demonstrating the depths of radical depravity, are at the center of many of these pieces, as is the Israeli military, frustrated by its inability to deter them. The specter of nuclear war looms as well, in vivid poetic accounts of the political and religious tensions assailing India and Pakistan throughout their struggle to resolve the fate of Kashmir. Brodsky also examines the fledgling government of Afghanistan, as Hamid Karzai strives, with the help of the United States, to keep civil war from regaining control of his country.

Other poems in this book are set in the U.S.: the workers at Ground Zero finally complete their grim ordeal of exhumation; the Bush administration warns that future terrorist strikes are inevitable and proposes creating the Department of Homeland Security; Washington prepares to strengthen its infrastructure, to ensure America's political institutions will continue functioning in case of attack.

As in the preceding three volumes of Shadow War, Louis Daniel Brodsky writes provocative, compelling poetic narratives about the worldwide fight for stability and order in a climate of spreading terrorism.