by Diana Morley
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| The world’s torrid future is etched in the crippled kidneys of Nepali workers. Kidney disease has become epidemic among Nepali migrant laborers working in the extreme heat of the Persian Gulf, presaging the world's climate change future. Photo: Sak Bahadur Chhantyal, 48, was working on a construction site in Oman for six years before he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. He has been on dialysis at the National Kidney Center in Kathmandu for almost two years. (Sagar Chhetri) —The Washington Post, January 6, 2023 |
Surely it’s time.
Time to say
we’re fueling
our pot
heating on
high
now scalding
our insides
after shriveling
our skin
raising black spots
burned not tanned
where we sit
not
stirred—
to get up
in uproar
to say
our kidneys
now cooking
like
beans.
Diana Morley has published poems online and in journals as well as two books of poetry and a photographic/poetic documentary of Oregon’s 2020 wildfire and renewal. She writes and resides in North Carolina.