Poetry, Issue 2
What Families Should Do During Genocide
Painting by Didier Viode

Don’t move a lot!

Save some energy

coz you will need it

when you have to run,

when a missile falls near you

or on your house!

Train your muscles:

One arm to raise heavy things,

like a concrete pillar

when the house is bombed,

another to shield your faces when

steel bars get close to poking your eyes.

Train your whole bodies to resist weight,

like when your bedroom’s ceiling

collapses on you.

Try and stay in different houses

so you don’t all die, 

just as a traveler does not put

all valuable memories in one suitcase.

Try to not travel at all.