aye myat thu
you were holding your doll
and a slice of fresh coconut
when your uncle saw
the three of you fall
there’d been no sound
no one seen around
just the jungle darkness
ever aprowl
your aunt had told you
about the tatmadaw
and how you had listened
how you were thinking
and how you’d saved your allowance
for the bicycle with the blue basket
and vowed to be a nurse
we can’t hear
the buddhist chants
that buried you
but can’t unsee
what can’t be
2021