LITTLE GIRL LEGS

LITTLE GIRL LEGS

little girl legs
patent leather shoes
walk - she dances on
her way to school

she gazes up
it shines like a
giant yellow balloon
on top of red brick

little girls
bewildered by its'
size, knows a sound
will cause her fear -
her feet, no longer
dance - instead
now dragging feet
across cement

a large yellow
balloon warns of
war - of bombs,
death - no family
left
sirens sound - hurts
small ear - or does
it hurt a mind calling
out in the middle of a
day -

together walk
little girls and boys
against a wall,
down two flights
of stairs to a
basement floor

neat - arms at their
side - straight -
no one laughs,
no one cries

small bodies sit
facing a putrid wall
of green - indian
style; girls bare
legs kiss gray cement
floors - heads touch
cold walls

hot air - inhale,
exhale, inhale on
bare flesh - eyes
closed - arms - hands
wrapped around a child's
head

all clear - a sound
erases fear as smiles
appear, pushing -
shoving - joking -
talking

until another day
unwrapped arms,
uncrossed legs -
hot air no longer
on little girl legs

Nancy Duci Denofio