know their names.
learn them by heart.
Systematic weapon of war
silenced
unacknowledged
hidden
without a registry
to keep the stories together
Too many are their names
in the careless stream of news
That registry should feature
grandmothers, daughters, siblings
some a few months old
Words on paper
their names
stamped
photocopied
reprinted
a million times over
Spread their names
to never allow oblivion
The voices hushed now
their screams muffled then
hand on mouth
a punch to knock their soul out
a Kalashnikov in the mouth
Women’s skins
dark, olive, red, white as the moon
but the moon could not help them
least, their god
material,
immaterial
Even the sky stood silent
when countless men
broke her leg bones
while raping her
She was just 10 years old
the talking of the soul 