Inside the many verses

Khmer Rouge

I can still hear the
Bones crack under the machete
Screams from flesh defiled

A day of blood rage
Babies could not cry for milk
The old ones peed red

But when the hour came
Men chewed their tongues in silence
And we thought them brave

Betrayed by a name
A place we once thought our home
Swallowing us whole

Skulls were piled for sport
Children were forced to take arms
And they cut down arms.

Mines grew like flowers
Blowing little fingers up
The small pieces lost

We were stratified
Literacy gave us away
We wished we were dump

Our lineage was lost
Hope was buried in mass graves
Identity blurred.

Vera