What Could Have Happened

I doubt . . . this is where I find it extremely difficult . . . no government worth its salt plans to massacre its people. No. What could have happened is something went wrong when they were on the ground. — Bethuel Kiplagat, Chair of  Kenya’s Truth,  Justice and Reconciliation Commission, indicted for involvement in the 1984 Wagalla Massacre of 5,000 Somali Kenyans by the Kenyan government Wa gal la a howl the wind stole Wa ga lla tongues torn out at roots wagallawagallawagallawa a swallowing of children thrust under thorn bushes choked on dust Wagalla a city of silence risen out of desert built of bodies