Dinkenesh
by Trey Garcia
(Dinkenesh is Lucy's given Ethiopian name; see Trey's review Lucy's Legacy.)
Looking at your fossilized jawbone
I wonder just what color were your eyes
How the sun did shine underneath African skies
Without the acid rain I see outside
Is that Awash Valley you lived in
Hiding away some memory you held -
A piece of flint, if there was flint
A lucky feather you held so tight
Or a manifesto you wrote
In a language we don't understand
Your blood has become my blood
Your skin developed into what is mine
The only difference, my hair is thinning
(For that I'd turn back time)
I leave you to lay there, the way others have left me
Heartbroken, alone, asleep to dream, to wish
I whisper as I'm leaving -
I think you hear me through the looking glass
'Sleep well sweet Dinkenesh'.