Sarajevo

The winter of Olympics in 84
and other winters follow
The chill winter killing of neighbors
by the thousands
and perhaps
by tens of thousands
The winter of intervention
and the winter of snipers
here on these streets
chalked with children's games
and chalked where bodies lay
And a winter occupied

Sarajevo's children-soldiers held apart
by foreign children-soldiers
French and Italian
Czech and Russian
Brit and German too
Until they leave, not looking back
having evened all the odds
of evening the scores
by arming everyone
evenly
and suddenly all the children
have grown old