Embers

A pardon
for all the sins
and the blood
and the stillborn children
cast to a sodden grave.

It wasn’t much to ask
of a priest
and a bishop
and a holy man on a horse
but they turned away.

And as the fire seared her flesh
but before the smoke suffocated her
she forgave them.

And the village died
for want of a midwife
and a doctor
and a voice to tell them
when to plant the seeds.