
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.