Running
Running
The war destroyed my storiesStoryteller: Mary (Sudan)
Poet: Alyssa Hudson
And in the same way that we must replace
photographs and furniture after a
I had to gather new stories.
And put them in my mouth
And roll them with my tongue
After so many hours of running
Running like the river
Stretching out toward the sea
A long line of turtles
One in front of the other
The same way I forced my feet
One in front of the other
Not moving fast enough
To escape the perilous
But by God’s grace escaping
One foot in front of the other
Running, running, running,
One foot in front of the other
Not knowing how to get
Where I didn’t know I was going
Running in slow motion
As if in a nightmare
My feet crumbling under me
And all at once I woke up
On October the eighth
And sugar was falling from the sky
I tried to catch it
But it melted at my touch
My children caught it in their mouths
And it disappeared on their tongues
It covered the ground
And I didn’t know how to walk
My legs slipped from under me
But here there was no perilous
Waiting to catch me
Here was a peaceful place
Where sugar fell from the sky
So I got up and I walked
Slowly, no more running
Simply one foot in front of the other
The war destroyed my stories
I took new photographs
I bought new furniture
And I tell the story of the sugar sky
Reminding me, the queen, me, the mother,
That all I must do is remember
To put one foot in front of the other.
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