she was forced to work in the fields

her frail, malnourished body

was no competition

for an ox-drawn plow

ripping apart the soil

where she was soon to be buried

I found the skeleton of a young lady

nearly crushed by my bulldozer

clearing the land for a new office building

on her lower rib

engraved was a cry, “HELP ME”

she carried an unborn child

she refused to abort

in fury, I began to hand-lay

the building’s foundation

each black, steel beam,

I carefully welded,

the ribs

all thirteen stories

the skeleton stands there

along the city’s skyline

where darkness falls every night

on the hearts of ignorant men