The Same Cloth

For World Malaria Day 2008

The same cloth

The same piece of cloth
They carried you on as they rushed your body in
Thick saliva rolling from your open mouth
Eyes disengaged.

The same green cloth that held you tight from birth
To your mother’s back
How deftly she wrapped you in and up and laughed
Coming from the market.

Now she stands stripped of fabric and form
Watching over your tiny body
Which lies aligned and straight
As never before in life.

Eyes half open
Looking out beyond the sky
Your velvet skin immobile
Weeping on patterned cloth.

Gently your father rewraps you in it
As travelers always do
Like a parcel of food
Prepared for a long journey.

And held out like an offering
You are quietly borne away
In that same cloth-covered bundle
See how all the edges are frayed!