The Difficulties
By Ruth Hill
The difficulties in trying to save
your enemies' children
—the innocents, collateral damage—
is that they belong so thoroughly
to your enemies
Handing candy to them in the refugee camps
you see it in their eyes
they have already learned to throw stones
waggle their tongues at you like wild turkeys
to repeat the irrational rationale
of why you are their enemy—'infidel'—
your food and your kindnesses,
their rightful plunder
This poem won an honorable mention in the 2013 Poets for Human Rights contest.
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