What can we know
About this child lying dead
Here, in this trackless land
of fierce sun and shifting sands?
That he played and laughed
And stood gazing in wonder
At a night sky filled with myriad stars
Endless, like the ghibli blown dust
That Malak al-Maut came for him
Unbidden, as the angel is wont to do
For the warrior, the woman, the aged
For this innocent child
That the angel of death came swifltly
Across an azure sky
Streaked with feathery clouds and fire
And he took this boy’s breath
And he took this boy’s body
And his soul, breathed them in
And exhaled his being in ghlibli dust
And placed his soul in the garden of heaven
Speak to me of mercy
Speak to me of compassion
Speak to me of innocence
And show me this small child
What can we know
About this child lying dead?
