Melinite

A poem about war.

Structure of picric acid (lyddite). Via Wikipedia. Public Domain Image.

Melliferous when melted,
Bitter when dusty —
BOOM! — blessed by thundering nitrates;
It sparked The Halifax Explosion,
Thousands died in Northern latitudes.

Melliferous when melted,
Bitter when dusty —
Imperial muskets shredding black bodies;
World World War I reverberates;
Hiroshima…