here is what i want to say
here is what i
want
to say:
little bones do not make
good barricades—
yet
every year (we tally)
children: blown
apart &
stitched into war
like threadless buttons—
& the men who sign the
orders
(have never held
a dying child)
or watched
a girl
unmake herself
to please a flag
you call it
collateral
you call it
politics
you call it
peace process
i call it
spirit-starved math
& while they
scream their alphabets
into silence
we’re busy
counting budgets
burning bridges
banning strangers
& locking up the future
because it looks too much
like them
we write
reports
(not wrongs)
& bury truths
beneath
diplomacy
& the next press release
meanwhile—
the world (this flaming marble)
shrinks
into fists
hatred’s easy
as sleep
accountability's a ghost
no one believes in
anymore
still—
if you ask me
what hope looks like—
it is
barefoot
& broken
& still walking
through the dust
saying
here i am.
& this
is what i want
to say.