that she found god
and cried thank you
on the pages of her notebook i swear
i could see the tears
in her changed face

and later that night
biking home or somewhere
i saw a screaming
girl wrapped in white

cloth was it
keeping her struggling

limbs from the men carrying her
or our eyes from some unspeakable sight they would
have plugged our ears if they could .

if i see her again
will i recognize her
by the pain in her eyes

will i be able to ask
whether her cry was subdued by some careful drug
or only from having screamed for so long

~February 13 , 2012