lest we forget
all those not white enough to be mourned for
those victims whose names you will never recite
body count sky high
sky could no longer hold them
so you tried to shrink their deaths
into numbers
statistics
dust
nothing
lest we forget
the countries where you have hidden your sins:
afghanistan, iraq, vietnam
nuclear ash on flander's fields
oil pipelines between the crosses
the dead still feel earth trembling
wondering when it will stop
lest we forget
opium wars
honoured with a blood stained poppy
that you wear across your chest
a reminder of all those killed
by your imperialist tanks
a reminder of countless charred bodies
who were denied life
worthless life
worth less life
lest we forget
who?
i'm trying to remember
the daughters of mohamed wazir:
masooma
farida
palwasha
nabia
murdered while they slept
an entire generation
now shrouded in white
buried with their country
why do you say
lest we forget
when they have already forgotten
- Aysha
