The Children of Yemen

By Iljas Baker

we talk in whispered

broken San’ani sentences

never fully present

waiting

watching

anxiously

we believe

but our hearts fear

the future

we might be gone

our children gone with us

would be a blessing

their broken bodies

still with life

unbearable

we believe

but our hearts fear

the future

don’t ask too much of us

O Compassionate

O Merciful

we believe

but our hearts fear

for our children’s future

*

Iljas Baker was born in Scotland and is a graduate of the universities of Strathclyde, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. He now lives in Nonthaburi, Thailand and teaches at Mahidol University International College in the Division of Social Science. He writes poems, essays and book reviews usually on Islamic themes.

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