The people we have 'disapperared'

Westgate has opened up old griefs that were not properly grieved...

Disappearance

Six British nationals are confirmed dead.

There was a Canadian diplomat.

Every nation reckons its stricken citizens.

The list reads like the guest list

of a diplomatic get-together

(pardon this irreverence).

Had this been that kind of gathering,

would we have included the waiters?

Would we have numbered the chef

the ayah, the cleaner,  or the messenger?

The media and foreign offices

catalogue people who are not us –

at least not the rest of us.

The rest of us have become illegible,

like the Tana River 500, the Wajir,

and Mandera hundreds,

the 42 on the Narok bus, and

Mombasa Road’s daily toll.

Earth cries for her children

buried into burning holes of grief;

into fiery bosoms of pain.

Earth cries for her un-eulogised.

See how we deny them a mention in death

just as we disappeared them in life.

These are the ones we cremate conveniently

in national amnesia.

After every tragedy we bring up

the palimpsest and swear

then swiftly overwrite it with the newest grief.

From Sinai to Sachang’wan

we stand indicted, the flames

of Kiambaa an unheeded subpoena.

The only forensic evidence

is found in the trembling hands of old

people petrified by anguish

and a reluctant acceptance.