I will make him with red hair and a fiery tongue
I will give him a country and a century
a limp and strong hands
I will take his wife but give him a daughter
lovely enough to break his heart
and will send him across the sea
where he will die an old man
and I will love him

I will make her a timid creature
who will feed the squirrels and the birds
I will give her a husband to wipe her tears
and children will follow after her
and dance for her in the meadows
but she will have no child to call her own
I will show her my writing in the sky
and I will love her

I will make a man who will strum songs
that cause the weary ones to weep
His father will shun him
and he will find no relief
from the boils that pock his soul
He will wander on the earth
with no place to call home
but his words will land on many
and unburden their days
and they will bless him in their prayers
and I will love him

I will make a child who cannot count
and cannot connect her A to B
or recognize the light in her mother’s eyes
and many will torment her
with pebbles and twigs
and I will love her

And I will make a man with war on his head
and dust will be the food in his mouth
and blood the drink in his well
and his flesh will be ribboned by dogs
and he will die in a field
known only by ravens and mice
and no one will notice he is missing
and no man will remember him
but I will
and I will love him

And I will make all of these
and gather them in my pages
and keep them on my shelf
and they will be my people