the girl searches for her mother
5 & tied on her back her 2-year old brother

walks the smoking pillaged streets, hungry
hides from the loudmouth drunken black booted men
who raped the mother

they carry machetes with assault rifles
amid wailing cries and sniping chatter
a body stares up a bloated question mark

the fishy smelly sewage of pothole puddles
squatting & drinking from the rainbow-slicked water
2 handfuls also for her fevered sick brother

across the street soldiers hold a shirtless man
the smirking faces, necklace him with the tire
the kneeling image of God imploring

doused with kerosene - the lighter flicks
screeches mingle with billowing rubber
& the guffawing worse than hyenas

from a fence, children watch bewildered
wondering why





1.5 10/10