A Poem for the Innocent Victims of War
Boy in house destroyed by rocket
Stand in my shoes,
Just for one moment,
Just for one day.
Stand in my shoes,
Feel my heart beat,
Hear what I say.
Can you breathe the same air
Through the thick, acrid smoke,
Run through the street
As the noise chokes your hope,
Count every moment -
It's all that you dare
When those you hold dear
May no longer be there,
And it makes not a difference
Just how much you care?
Stand in my shoes,
Just for one moment,
Just for one day.
Stand in my shoes,
Feel my heart beat,
Hear what I say.
Do you think I'm not real,
Just a figure on-screen,
That my dreams,
They don't matter,
That my heart cannot scream,
That you turn off the button
And then I'll be gone,
As you finish your coffee
You haven't got long
To dash to your job
And get on with your life
While I'm still stuck here
In the midst of this strife?
Stand in my shoes,
Just for one moment,
Just for one day.
Stand in my shoes,
Feel my heart beat,
Hear what I say.
Do you know what it's like
To not feel free,
To have your whole future
In doubt, just like me?
Your goal, just for now,
Is staying alive,
Your prayer in the evening,
To simply survive
The night, that begins
With the deafening dark,
Then in comes the terror,
It flashes and sparks
And lights up the sky
Like the end of the world,
A nightmare unleashes,
The fire unfurls,
Your horizon is lost
In a cloak of despair
And you cling to your loved ones
And hope you'll be spared.
Bombed house, Syria