tucked between the mountains and the lake, tiny and vulnerable
wracked by warring natives and warring foreigners
who will control the copper mines
and the cobalt
who will look after
the goats
and the sweet potatoes
the fields ripening in the sun
the coffee harvested by hand
and drunk overseas
who will look after
the children
and the widows
survivors of AIDS
and famine
who will look after
the rivers flowing now fast
now sluggishly
and the forests
what remains
after the need for food
and fuel is satisfied
the people labor
long
and hard
to fill the bellies
of investors
and the vaults
of banks
(Burundi)
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