FOR THE CHILDREN OF HAITI
ORPHANED BY AN EARTHQUAKE,
JANUARY 2010

Amidst the hell of ruptured streets,
of buildings tumbled
and houses crushed to rubble,
the sisters embrace.
Their fragile limbs
and delicate fingers intertwine.
The ribbons in their hair,
tied by the nimble but trembling hands
of an aunt or a grandmother,
the white and pink dresses
flowing from their vulnerability,
these remnants of innocence will soon fall away,
overpowered by the rare strength
and the raw hunger for survival
pulsing in their faces.

Orphaned by an earthquake,
childhood has vanished
for the surviving children of Haiti,
and the last flicker of purity
has been extinguished from their eyes.