6th January, 2023

The Eyes of Rwanda

Bones lie En masse.

Mass is not a prayer

grand enough

to save this flesh

from the ash it sits in now.

 

Eyes hollow, I drop through

so deep

I may never lift above

this sorrow.

 

A soul, barely visible

sinks to her knees.

Her skin wraps

so tightly, I am sure she will fall and

there is nothing left

to help her rise,

her eyes…

I cannot go back.

 

Blood

dripping from the clouds

so full

upon the river bodies drifting.

Breeding

seeds of hatred spread.

The fragrance turns to stench

and all are drenched

in fear.

 

I dream death

on a warm summer night.

The air is still

my sleep is filled

with cries.

It is here I lie

for days to come,

undone…

I cannot go back.

 

*I wrote this after watching a 1994 news broadcast about the Rwandan genocide. I was haunted by it.