Shiru

9 January 2008, 9:25 AM
A young woman told her story to a CNN reporter.

All is comfort and quiet. A full refrigerator hums,
the clock ticks- a quarter after nine,
and I haven't stirred to shower or do anything
worthwhile today. As I procrastinate,

a woman in Nairobi sits in a crowded camp
helplessly watching her child begin to go hungry
and her husband's slow, unaided journey back
from a machete-crazed abyss of hatred
and blind rage. His wounds will heal,
though he may not, nor his children,
nor the wife of his youth. For who finds
the dark and twisted path back to the land
of the living from this rape of humanity?

I find myself perturbed at my annoyance
upon finding my coffee cold. There is nothing for it-
I am helpless- am I complacent?-
and she will watch- today,
tomorrow,
the day after-
alone.