Body Count
I am
getting enough
Sleep. Pursuing work-life
Balance. Say to my students
Your
essays will be scored
Don’t
worry. They are expecting
10,000
or more to be counted
After
Typhoon Haiyan
In the
Philippines. Days later
The
stench hovers and seeps
I have lost everything
The
only thing, pulling, dragging
Counting. Introductions, bodies,
Conclusions. Exasperation has
Transformed
into toil. Water
Supplies
and sewage intermingle
Dying
for a drink. Headaches,
Moans,
sleep and searching
Salt
stings the eyes. Evidence
Bobs
bloated in the cistern
After
class, lines of them
Pounding
stakes into mud
My
family swept away
I held
her hand until I couldn’t
Anymore. Nothing.
The walls
Are
down in Tacloban
Sitting
at my desk, smug
Crates
are dropping from the
Clouds. I have what I need
There
is nothing to do but
Count. Identify.
Zip them up
Nothing
left to balance upon
No
paths to follow now
The
fishing boats are buried
At
sea, the only thing to think
Upon
is under the surface
One
fist, then another, pulling
Dredging
deep or skimming
Wondering
if style or grammar
Or
just the content in the net
These
are someone’s loved ones
Reduced
to a score. Hopefully
Yours
will be recovered
As
they rise or turn at shoreline
By a
friend or brother, laid
Gently
down in a pit
Ormoc,
Cebu, Baybay
So
close, a family
I will
visit them tomorrow
But
first, under this tree
Muddied, bowing my head
Stopping count
No comments:
Post a Comment