Under the Mali Night Sky

Under the Mali night sky
one small girl sleeps in a rose petal,
entwined with her twin in a cloud
of pink mosquito netting.
Together as they were before birth.

When light comes, one wanders.
The other walks the same walk
as her father, not leaving his side.
And at night the girls come
together once more to dream.

Under the Mali night sky
the Tuareg girls dance
in the desert under bright stars.
Gently moving to the sound of the guitar,
powered by a car battery.

The music ends; conversation continues.
Two by two they return to their dark mud homes
as the heat of the day lifts,
rising above the forsaken landscape,
far from the cool waters of the Niger.