The Chibok Schoolgirls
(Nigeria, 2014-04-14)
Yellow jerry cans abandoned by the wayside.
Dirt roads, clay houses, another year of dust.
The world has forgotten its kidnapped girls.
Nothing remains of footprints in dried mud,
Except their contours in the mother’s heart.
Bring back our girls.
Everything the father eats tastes gray
And bitter as raw hate.
Bring back our girls.
Young sisters reach out in their sleep,
Only to wake in terror.
Bring back our girls.
Gaunt brothers go but come back empty-handed
From thorny shrubs and jagged rocks.
Bring back our girls.
The harmattan whips dry sand to a haze.
Hyenas laugh.
For the world has forgotten its girls.
*
Janice D. Soderling has published many poems in international journals, print and online. Her most recent collection is Rooms & Closets. This poem is from a forthcoming chapbook, Names.
Heartbreaking and a powerful reminder.
Thank you, Melody. It is indeed heartbreaking.