samedi 16 mai 2009

Iraq Haiku Series IV: Refugee


i am in jordan

but i am not jordanian

rights are limited

there are but six left
my husband is dead

so are his and my parents


my children buy bread

they beg on the road
i'm afraid to leave this room


it is i and five
and each one hungry

today i will try harder

i will wait in line
with ten thousand iraqis
and ask them nicely

other young widows
line the marketplace
we hope for coins, in'sh allah


i want to go home
to my relatives
still scattered like desert palms

i am alive but
i just want to die
to lie beside my husband

it is night in Amman

a cool noiseless breeze
blows through cut-out windows


maybe there is hope

perhaps a letter

comes from loved ones in basra


i will wait and watch
soon we will return

i have promised my children


go to Iraq Haiku Series V: Child Martyr here

1 commentaire:

Anonyme a dit…

It is interesting what resonates with me. Each portion of these Haiku have within their body something for us all to resonate with. For me here, it was the young mother desiring nothing more than to feed her family.