Day 640

Where has the time gone,
your sister asks you. It’s late.
You’re lying side by side
in the tent. The night wind
blows sand against the canvas flaps.
Your small brothers sleep restlessly,
crying out now and then. In hunger?
Fear? The summer night is warm.
The air the tent still holds
clings to your body, even soothing.
Where has it gone? she asks again.
We were young and now it feels
our youth has been drained from us.
We laughed. We danced. Now our days
are spent looking for water. Rationing
food. You hear her beneath the sound
of explosions not far away. You want
to answer her but you can’t
find the words. Sleep overcomes
you. A shroud. Almost comforting.