i was folding laundry the day
rwanda invaded my living room
the smell of bleached white boxers
warm from the dryer
fills the air
on screen africans murdering
africans murdering africans
caught in a daze
my own fantasy land
playing house yet not grown
in the background he stood
laughing on the phone
rwanda i say
that’s nowhere the reply
in my living room
it is alive
weeping women scream
stills of men dead in graves
the size of football fields
one boy walks alone
his feet bloody with miles to go
children hold machine guns
dead babies clutched in arms
images my mind won’t let go
rwanda i say
don’t know the difference between
with a bottle/with a machete
with a machine gun/with a broom handle
by her son/by an army
there must be another word
for this for these/rape does not
fit
1,000,00 dead
how many is 1,000,000 i ask
detroit 2 times he says
detroit 2 times is dead i inform
detroit 2 times is dead he repeats
rwanda
the phone forgotten
laundry remains in baskets
i weep
rwanda invades
fearfree living 
you and I both ❤
It’s terrible. The genocides and wars going on in Africa shold be all over the front pages of every newspaper and people should be in shock and horror. And yet it seems to fall into some black hole, as if it weren’t real. Maybe it’s just too much for anyone to fathom? Maybe it’s because people don’t care about Africa? The lost continent… It’s horrifying and makes me cry too
There is so much we don’t know about the world around us. In the States we’re pretty isolated because we are so self-involved. It takes effort to actually seek out non-States news and information, but once you do the enlightenment you experience proves to be more than worth it. Thanks for reading.
Very Powerful.
Thank you for reading.
I appreciate you for reading it.
Painful. Thank you for writing this.
It was a difficult thing to witness. I think all persons who experienced the Rwanda genocide via the media are still trying to process it. Since then I’ve had the chance to meet survivors, who have gone on with their lives, true heroes.
I admired your useful writing. brilliant stuff. I hope you release others. I will continue subscribing