Portside

April 26 is the 78th anniversary of the bombing of the Basque town, Guernica, by German and Italian air forces during the Spanish Civil War. It was this atrocity against innocent civilians that prompted Pablo Picasso to create his most famous painting. As New Mexico poet Richard Vargas writes, however, worldwide public outrage has not stopped the strategy of indiscriminate bombing of civilian populations.

The euphemisms of warfare proliferate--not least phrases like "collateral damage." Esther Kamkar shines a light on the drone.

This poem references the violence of enforced disappearance and forced displacement that is rampant in Colombia. Colombia has over 50,000 reported disappearances, and about 5 million internally displaced.

At the 104th anniversary of the Triangle Fire in New York City, poet Tom Karlson reminds us that factory tragedy remains a real issue in the global garment-making industries.

With baseball's opening day this week, Malik Abduh's "Barnstormers" evokes the days when race prejudice barred great athletes from the major leagues.

Fifty years after his assassination, this poem honors El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (aka Malcolm X)

Ostriker's poem touches the heart of violence against women in a patriarchal culture.