Song Lyrics

a revolving wheel of metal chairs
hung on chains, squealing

four little children flying out
a blind man sings in arabic

now you see them, now you don’t
the children vanish behind a vehicle

now you see them, now you don’t
faces, limbs, a bouncing skull

little children, don’t disappear
                    I heard it was twenty-eight thousand
lost upon a revolving wheel
                    I heard it was twenty-eight thousand
all that’s left after a year
                    I heard it was twenty-eight thousand
a faded face, the trace of an ear
                    I heard it was twenty-eight thousand

a tableau of the missing
tied to the government building

thousands of sun-bleached photographs
fading with the roses