State of Emergency


Nelah sits in an abscess
in the middle of the road and picks
holes in his red jeans.
The whole town's coming out
in ulcers.

Yesterday a school bus
carrying his younger brother
burst like a blister outside the fruit market.
They've been sweeping
up blackberries all night.

The ground burns his feet,
temperatures are rising
in these parts - a fever's breaking
out in the West Bank.

Paul K. Henry

If you've any comments on this poem, Paul K. Henry would be pleased to hear from you.