Now, my fear is not of water,
or drowning—
or being entered by someone both unnamed
and unfathered, but instead
of the re-birth, the return to the womb,
a bell-flower membrane masking
my head.

Children play hide-and-seek: behind trees
Barefoot in summer: You’re it.
Soldiers play hide-and-seek behind Humvees
Dust, heat everywhere: She’s dead.
Games. Evening news video-feed:
How about a beer?

Soldiers play hide-and-seek: she’s dead.
Her small body limp—
She was it, not knowing:
White, starched school shirt tie-dyed with blood.
A mother waits.

Her small body limp—
In the soldier’s arms