She hears
The familiar sound of gates closing
In her restless sleep
Her eyes fly open in panic
Searching for the open doorway
And rest again on the gray
Outside her third-story window
A sky so gloomy
It must know her plight
Is ribbed with layers of white
And black fog
As it has been for weeks
Rain pours from an open faucet
Smashing the window and brick
Cracking the narrow cobblestone street
She pulls her cold white feet
From the heavy covers
Runs to the window
Hands outstretched
And touches the chilled pane
Tears scraping her tired worn face
Like the rain streaming down her window
Below the massive men march
Green from chest to pant
Black boots smacking the broken stones
Raindrops staggering down their barrels
They are undeterred by native weather
As it beats on their bolshie heads
And screams in their pitiless ears
She looks to the sky
Knows it cannot last another week
And mouths a desperate prayer
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona nobis pacem
Her heart aching for the soil of her youth
Hands grasping at nothing
A thunder crash sends her to the ground
Her feeble legs unable to hold another moment
At alert the men below survey
Beaten statue and wrecked building
Curse the still-defiant sky
Then resume their guard
Feet scamper through the closed door
Hands reach her
Pull her to frail feet
Press her in bed
The lights are dimmed
The rain beats harder
A cool cloth soaks her forehead
She speaks
Her voice dry and cracked
And they silence her
Tell her the weather will win
But she knows
As she drifts back away
That a glaring sun soon
Will thrash the tired clouds
And when next she awakes
The clouds are past but gray remains
Fear and hope in her
She gropes to the window
Drops her eyes to the cobblestones below
And lets go a heartbroken sob
At the remaining marching men
Her tears heavy
And arms tired
She pushes the pane till it shatters
Glass shards cut at the pale skin
And sink to the stones below
Shouts echo
Her door flies open
And using her last worn might
She plummets to the soil
As bullets ravish her unsurrending body