Diane Giardi
Naming It
They die telling the truth.
Journalists, witnesses, newspaper publishers,
Uncovering it
Exposing it
Saying it
out loud, in writing, in voice,
in photo, in vote.
The it forever changes.
Severed heads rolling on playgrounds,
hundreds of rapes in a Congo village,
untouchable politicians, leaders, buying votes,
and subtly, silently, planning their massacres,
dead-on force
and the cold, numbing turning away
from all who pain and need
and at their feet openly bleed.
They die telling the truth.
Photographers, ministers, next door neighbours.
Naming it
Signing it
Facing it.
Bravery in a statement.
This is what she said.
This is what they did.
That is what he looks like.
Yes, that’s him.
I saw it. I heard it. I know this to be true.