Song for Sudan

i asked her to tell me her story
she started by looking away –
gazing back into that darkness when she knelt to pray.
the planes dropped the bombs before daybreak -
the janjaweed stormed with the dawn.
those who could
fled to the forest
to hide till they’d gone.
returning to ruins by moonlight
she found she was orphaned and then -
there they began
their exodus out of
sudan.