Protecting the Children

The women gather in circles
at the edge of the forrest,
candles shine on their faces
and into the leaves of the trees.

They raise up their arms
and pray that the moon
will not fall
before turning its back
and yielding to darkness.

The men haul bundles of sticks
to a corn stubble field,
stack them like pyramids
before throwing their torches.

At sunrise the women
laugh with their children
and have them recite
moral lessons.

The men are still out in the fields,
digging deep trenches
to bury the ashes.