August

(& a woman wades the stream
–beyond the dam of schoolchildren–
clutching at her breast
the baby of Los Alamos.)

​

(plums strewn in what was once dirt;
a goat shrieks
pieces of a head covering
stuffed with cotton like forget-me-nots.
the crackling church; sounds of a war ending.)

​

(eulogies sewn into sun-burnt bodies.
a child born into an aftermath.)

​

(amidst ashes, a city wishes to be a god.
to be heard in bursts.)