Iraqi Woman Attends a Wedding
They drove across the border
to Jordan, rented a room.
She unpacked the black denim dress
large enough to hide a pregnancy
or a suicide belt.
She took a taxi with her husband
to the wedding at the Radisson.
Did he kiss her good-by
before he ‘pushed her out
of that ballroom
as she fumbled with her belt,’
did they lie the night before
like familiar spoons in a drawer,
his arm cradling her breasts,
read newspapers over omelets,
leave their belongings
or pack efficiently and…
No, they would never
need those things again
It must all be there
in that furnished room
the woman ran back to,
the belt packed with fifteen pounds
of explosives and metal ball bearings
‘ to kill as many people as possible,’
still strapped around her waist.
Lindy Leedy Schneider
Posted over on Poets Against the War
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