Poem: "My Poem Will Not Save You" by Iraqi-American poet Dunya Mikhail

My poem cannot return
all of your losses,
not even some of them,
and those who went far away
my poem won’t know how to bring them back
to their lovers.

I am sorry.

I don’t know why the birds
sing
during their crossings
over our ruins.

Their songs will not save us,
although, in the chilliest times,
they keep us warm,
and when we need to touch the soul
to know it’s not dead,
their songs
give us that touch.