Too Much to Bear

body of  Three Irons—
mother of six—

what must her children have thought
when she was brought
to their sad grandmother?

one child asks
“did she hurt
long
in those cool mountains?”

“an eagle shot by a greedy hunter”
their sad grandmother explains.

many many bodies in these cool mountains.
many many mothers daughters sisters aunties girlfriends
missing dead reduced
to exigencies
to extractive practices.
More Poems by Cheryl Clarke