“Keeping track of the Iraqi death toll isn’t the job of the United States,” a student said, “and besides, how would we count the dead?”

Take their limbs strewn about the streets—
multiply by a thousand and one.

Ask everyone in Baghdad who has lost
a brother. Cousin. Sister. Child — to speak
their name in a recorder.

Go to every school, stand
at the front of the class, take roll;
for every empty desk, at least two dead.

Find every shop that sells cigarettes—
ask how many more cartons they’ve sold this year.

Go to the bus station and buy ten tickets –
offer them free to anyone who wants to leave.

Go see the coffin-maker. Ask how much
cedar and pine he’s ordered this month.

The dead don’t require much. They don’t speak
in numbers or tongues, they lie silent

waiting — to be counted

Persis Karim
Copyright © 2008 by Persis Karim

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 2:24 pm and is filed under What's at Stake, Wild Blue Yonder. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.