April

Auschwitz

Because of April
Boscoe doesn’t eat fish
And Freddy teaches peace to others,
Traveled to Bangui to assist with food relief
And once walked through the Kigali Genocide Memorial
With individuals who murdered 80 of his family members

Because of April
Romeo shook hands with the devil
And still can’t shake off his shadow
And my park guide in Rwanda speaks the 41 languages of Uganda
But does not have a single blood relative

Because of April
I travel the world seeking answers to questions no one should have to ask

11 million in Europe
1 million in Africa
3 million in Southeast Asia
And I am being generous
I am leaving some of the numbers out
I am too tired to make the list complete

Because of April
And Armenia and Lemkin
We now have a word for it all:
Genocide —
Geno from the Greek genos for race, kind
Cide from the English cide for “a killing”