Day 355

A child is walking outside a school
that is not a school anymore
but a shelter.  She is walking
without looking at anything, not even
the dust, not even the sky.  It has been months
since she lost her parents, her brothers,
her aunt.  Months since she woke 
in her bed, dressed for school,
walked with her friends past houses
and gardens.  The child is thin;
she has lost the weight of her family.
She has lost the weight of the hours
she loved, the voices, the stories.
Her mind is a field where nothing
grows, a blank space
predatory birds cross over
and do not stop.