Pruning the Roses

My secateurs are surgically efficient
Their finely bevelled blades
create the future

I move slowly from bush to bush
selecting the strongest wood
pruning roses

...

The undressing-room is crowded
We are exhausted after our journey
and frightened

An officer in a black uniform
is speaking through a megaphone
He tells us that we are to have a shower

He orders us to undress
To hang our clothes on the hooks
and to take a piece of soap into the shower-room

As we enter some of the children start to cry
The door is bolted behind us
The lights go out

...

My secateurs are surgically efficient
I move slowly from bush to bush
pruning roses