One Bright Morning

One bright morning they’ll lower my body into the earth.

& from my bones a sturdy bougainvillea will flower

with bright thorns to blind those who'd harm my sisters,
necklace them with fears about their worth,
but even in Ginen, my name will provide shelter.

One bright morning they’ll lower my body into the earth,

& I will release the pain in my bones since birth,

return to the light from which I now whisper:

“Don’t cry. I am at peace, my brothers.

One bright morning they’ll lower my body into the earth.

***

Image: Ian Gage