Poem: Fragments of a Litany

May the world record unquietly
the wordless eyes of Abdul,

of Kenza, and Karam – who buried
their mothers in a barren yard.

And remember the nameless orphan, too:
removed from the rubble of a screaming ward  –

blood in the mouth, her vision blurred.
Sow seeds, oh poem, for the baby, Salma,

and her shock-haired sister, Alma, twin,
mewling by the roadside when the brutal rains abate.