Runaway

Bullets for marbles
Our war-torn epic
Of lost youth, adolescent strategies
And unmarked graves.
Fighting a junta, an absent autocrat
In between games of soccer,
Injured stumps for legs
Dry maize for food.
The night stars a napkin
Our staple diet the blood of loved ones
Children treading carefully
Over poisoned land
Littered with mines.
A toy soldier’s hat removed
Long flowing hair
Not quite hiding the trauma
Of missed periods:
Rape as a warning.

By Raymond Enisuoh

The UN
See:http://www.un.org/