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Second Place Winner: Daniela Elza
Dear God
Outside tires are
smoldering. Black
smoke fills the hut. Curls up
in the thatched roof.
The air so thick you
have to cut it to breathe.
Someone had brought an
apple. A gift.
After passing it around for
everyone to hold it ended
on the altar in
the nook under the cross.
Chewing on a piece of
cassava I close my eyes
try to
imagine what it would taste like.
One of the travelers said
it tastes like magic.
The quiet one was
sitting by the kerosene lamp
doubled over a
newspaper clipping.
ran his finger
across the fine print over
and over as
if trying to rub it out.
It could have
been one of those lists
of missing people
we
have gotten accustomed to
reading before dinner. I
close my eyes again
try to imagine what a
louse would look like.
That was on my vocabulary test
the other day.
I like school but
I only go when there is a cease-
fire. The other word I
am sure I got wrong was
paradigm. I
looked it up but all I remember is
it came before
paradise.
Glance
through the yawning
doorway. See
the soldiers
pacing
back and forth.
Laughing.
Everyday
feels like
judgement day
here.
Under
massive gunfire
I look up
foreign
words like
gypsy and
empire.
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October/06 Winners
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