Housewife #28

on the news tonight

two boys cling to the legs of their mothers

at Kabul’s International Airport gate

 

in every war—

women become saviors like Yeshua

their backs

safer than the rocky hill of Golgotha

 

tomorrow

rain will fall—

men will continue to stand behind wires

cutting sharp like teeth

 

those two boys will beg to be lifted

on their mothers’ backs

 

my mother believes that the Taliban

fears women more than men

she says it is difficult to kill gods—

when she said gods

i knew she meant women


Also by Jeremy Teddy Karn