rwanda

babies, hey where do you belong

ripping wombs, did you see?

see the limb severed and the head rolling

down the deep concave of rolling hills
where did my house go

bringing disease into the home

they came through quick and easy

no after-thought just happen like

heavy, heated sleep you can't wake from

bones, why do you tremble and legs,

run faster, stretch the muscle- we don't

want to be part of these miles and
miles of rotting skin, take me out of here

sky, so many cried, raising eyes and fists

arms outstreched they reached :

come on big bad world come save us

slice here, cut there,
pick at that bone until it's
nothing but dust like everything
else beneath our feet

can't keep that head on
can't keep your womb warm
pulling you out still temporary and unfinished
there were no more wholes and no one wants
a bare body for a relic

river, you taste like iron
did they cut through you too?
they hardly bothered after and everyone

gathered at your bank, one on top of the other

heaps of arms, piles of legs

did my mother seep into you

did my father shrink into this bubbling brook

babies, where did you come from and

where are you going to?