Day 621

You lost your first child
under the rubble, shielded
(but not enough) by your womb.
For days you lay
buried there, barely
breathing, shards of your house
on top of you, crushing
your lungs, fallen
in such a way that you could
barely see
daylight and night. When
they dug you out, you
and your husband, the baby’s heart
had stopped being able to beat.
Now, after more than a year,
another child makes his way
into life within you.  Day by day
his heart beats more strongly,
his fingers and toes define themselves.
Who will he be, this child
whose growth is punctuated by bombs?
And you are weak.  Hungry.
Your child is nourishing himself
from your body, but your body
is wasting away as he
grows larger.  How
will you feed this child
when there is no food,
when even a single bag of flour
costs more than everything
you possess?