Day 625

She tries to buy flour for her family
but a bag of flour
costs too much, and there’s none
in any case at the market.
She wants to buy pain medicine for her son,
but no medicine is allowed in
so her son rocks back and forth
all day, holding his leg, whimpering
in pain.  She wants him
to have the shrapnel removed.
She wants him to run across the sand
again the way he did.  She wants him
to be able to eat the bread she wants
to bake.  She wants him to have
the surgery he needs, she wants him
to talk to her like he used to,
to tell her stories from his day.
To laugh.  How long
has it been since he
laughed, she asks herself.  She looks
over at him, holding his leg.
Rocking.  Rocking.