Shahé Mankerian: Brioches in Beirut

The bakery crowd looted the last
of the loaves. A beggar child
driven by hunger ignored

the falling bombs; he sucked 

on rancid raisins stuck 

between his teeth. 

Pregnant Fatimah didn't mind 

the mold on the leftover crumbs; 

she devoured them 

as she crossed the checkpoint 

full of pungent militiamen. 

No one noticed the Druze 

cabdriver on fire. No one 

tasted the difference between glass 

shards and sugar beads 

piercing the bloated belly 

of brioches. A roach crawled 

into the barren oven. The broken 

baker sat on the curb 

and cried because he ran out 

of yeast, butter, and flour.

"Brioches in Beirut" was a runner-up in These Fragile Lilacs Poetry Journal, Volume II, issue II.