Orphanage, Tirana, Albania

Orphanage, Tirana, Albania

A child peers through
a broken, barred window.
Rats tumble like acrobats
as they enter.

Water drips from overhead.
"It was the bombs. Watch out
for the holes in the floor."

They find a room
filled with babies
chanting
their own lullabies.

She holds hunger
to her milkless breasts
as cups of soup
glaze over with grease.

Linda Leedy Schneider
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Feed The Children