To a 12-year old girl sitting on a stool:
To a 12-year old girl
sitting on a stool:
How did you get here
aged beyond your years?
….
Hacking off my Tutsi legs
the right one took many blows
I screamed and screamed
one of you twelve
stuffed my panties in my mouth
duct tape over my mouth and nose
barely could I breathe
….
my arms
you threw in the weeds
I could not reach them
….
You ripped my flesh
but little thing it was
you also ripped my soul
& where it heals
it heals hard
where it was soft
& where it stays raw
it lets out my anger
so my grieving is never
touched by time
stays new each moment
and I am ever yelling
“Evil! Evil! Evil!
You were my neighbors
Is there no one to stand by me
stand and not speak
for I no longer have
fingers to cling to you
but only eyes
Evil! Evil! Evil!
Stand by me!”
:- Doug.
