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by Phoebe
Child in Sudan
I till the fields with my mother;
hands clasped to keep me safe while
we sow the soil with our future.
Then Janjaweed beat and rape her,
and sing aloud their pleasure;
their breath blows my song away.
I hide in the trees with my brother,
lips closed to keep us safe, from
the soldiers who torch our village,
who scorch our homes with
fierce flames in their eyes,
while our laughter burns away.
I walk for days with my father;
he has a plan to keep me safe.
We talk as we cross the desert,
and his face grows as cracked
as the hard, crazed earth,
where my hopes all drain away.
I lie down beside my cousin;
hold her close to keep her safe,
I warm her in the night-time,
whisper of rice and sunshine,
brush the flies from her dry skin,
but my whispers are swept away.
The war destroys my people,
there is no one to care if I’m safe,
my hunger is all consuming,
and I can only sit and wait
for an end to the fear and sorrow,
for this world to will for peace.
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Invisible Woman
She faded fast
when those determined strands of grey took root.
The colours tumbled from her speech
and vibrant words, like life and love,
poured out in streams of scarlet ink.
Ugly word-beasts lumbered in.
The mammogram and menopause
trod rough-shod on her heart,
laid stones around her waist to stop her taking flight
while dreaming that she still was seventeen.
Then, one most ordinary day,
a fine young man gave up his seat,
(with eyes that shouted 'Grandma' and 'inept').
In order to avoid a scene, she just sat down
glued on her smile, then
simply closed her eyes and disappeared.
They searched in all her usual haunts,
the supermarket and the kitchen sink,
but she was nowhere to be seen.
"She let herself go", they muttered darkly
"how did she get to such a state?
It is a crying shame, you know."
Perhaps she will be found one day;
her light still burns for those who care to see.
A kindred soul may dare to lift his eyes up to the sky
and glimpse her sparkle in a million stars,
Then, with a wicked smile, may take her hand
and pull her swiftly back to ground.
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