Breakfast in Afghanistan
For Donnie
We wake up bright and early but never wash or bathe.
There’s hardly any water; what we have we save.
We go about our business ignoring Leeuwenhoek.
Sanitize? Disinfect? Surely, my friend, you joke!
Oh, that? It’s just a little rash that’s mottling my feet;
I got it from a parasite consumed while eating meat.
What’s that? You ask about the bread. Why, yes, I stomp my own;
I use the board that serves as the back door of our home.
You say you’re not that hungry, but certainly I am.
Thanks so much for asking, yes, I’ll have mine with jam.
Pop tarts, anyone?
Amy Lynn Reifsnyder
March 13, 2004
