an African girl searches for her mother
she’s five– tied on her back, her brother
wanders the smoky streets, hungry
hides when rowdy black-booted men pass
they carry machetes and Russian AK-47s
amid wailing cries and sniping chatter
limbless bodies stare from bloated death
fishy-smelling sewage in pothole puddles
she stops to drink the rainbow-slicked water
giving a little to her fever-sick passenger
not far, the soldiers hold a shirtless man
smirking, they necklace him with a tire
crying on his knees, imploring for his life
they douse him with kerosene and lighter flicks
fiery screeches pierce the air
and they just laugh and laugh and laugh
from hiding, the girl watches in horror,
wondering, why?–
does anyone care?

© Brian Hodgkinson Jr. (aka) Limericist 2007