Iraq Haiku Series V: Child Martyr

i am floating now
above the wreckage
i am free to come and go

mother is at home
she is making our couscous
she breathes in its steam

sister is sewing
a tattered pant's cuff
from my brother's hand-me-downs

i am the baby
the one coddled tight
the light in everyone's heart

mountains rise and rivers flow
cities are spilling
with cars and people

i do not feel pain
as i float past you
i am beyond all pain now

my white-red garments
fall down to the ground
i am a naked angel

my mother adds salt
and raisins to the couscous
sister is singing

brother runs to me
or what was once me
but i'm free to come and go

i bend my two arms
into a breaststroke
i dive headlong into sky

pure iraqi sky
where prayers rise up
like the sweet steam of couscous


go to Iraqi Haiku Series I: Iraqi here