your name meant "wish"
your soft features and lively eyes
told of unaccustomed ease
in a hard land
you played snakes and ladders with me
one whole afternoon
making glad a lonely child's day
climbing high on painted ladders
or getting sucked into the belly
of fearsome snakes
later I walked to the bare rice fields
to the far end of our village
dotted by jagged date palms
scarred on all sides by date juice harvesters--
the winter sun glistened
and you said, "go back home now"
it's been ages since that farewell
but I often imagine your last fear and pain
see your round face and lively eyes
bloom quietly a moment among bayonets
its petals dispersing
in the darkening wind
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