Because There is No Excuse

This is for the children
who cut their teeth on suffering
who know pain
before they can name it
whose bodies we fill
with poisons
burn with invisible fires
trying to dislodge the grip
of death on tender flesh
who still smile and play
past agony
past exhaustion
whose mothers grow fierce
with desperation–
Remember them all
in their uncounted numbers
Carry them with you
when you go
to kneel at the altar
of an indifferent god