Where are you today? I keep trying your phone
there’s the same message playing, it doesn't change -
hope you're not at a concert? within range?
Are you with friends? Are you, by chance, alone?
Are you at this moment by a riverside?
and suddenly a hired van swerves too close,
scatters the commuters - hope you're among those
who see it coming and quickly jump aside.
Are you in a park? or college campus?
where a ruthless finger plays with a trigger.
Are you trapped where no-one can quite figure
if we’re firing guns, or the gun’s shooting us?
Call me dear one, call me back, I can’t bear
this silence, my world’s broken everywhere.For those who've lost family or friends to senseless violence across the world.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWhere are we going? When will it end...?
Wish it would end already, but realistically can't see it happening...
DeleteThis poem made my innards clench. You captured the helplessness
ReplyDeleteWow and whoa
In a just world, no-one should be able to relate to it. Thank you.
DeleteI can relate to this poem, awful awaiting the phone to ring....and it dosen't.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
I hope it rings soon for you.
DeleteHi Nila - worry for loved ones in challenging places is so stressful ... so many horrors we dodge now ... we are lucky, some not so - desperation for news is everywhere - that not knowing ... so so draining. Well drafted up for us to recognise our lives at times ... keep in touch by calling loved ones - essential ... so sad for those who do wait - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteWaiting is indeed very hard work! Especially for those people with loved ones in cities/places at the centre of some or other random violence...life is uncertain and unnecessarily complicated for them.
DeleteThat is so powerful and timely.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteThe world is no more safe. There are lots of risks in all domains
ReplyDeleteVery well depicted Nila.
Absolutely. Suspicion and security apparatus taint every public event/space now.
DeleteIn the old days, if a person was accessible by telephone, we knew automatically where they were. Home, at work, etc. Nowadays, with almost everyone owning a cell phone, they could be anywhere!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think those days of firmly tethered phones were less panic inducing than the always accessible times we are in now.
DeletePhones, so nerve racking - life saving - stress inducing! Not one of my favorite things - except in an emergency, then priceless. But waiting for word - horrendous!
ReplyDeleteCan't do without them! But...can't stand the associated stress either :)
DeleteWaiting for word is totally nerve wracking, especially in a crisis.