Photo courtesy of Bloomberg
APOCALYPSE
The thunder of horses’ hooves
No longer evokes terror
This comes from the skies
Life limps amidst the craters,
The suffocating smoke,
Brimstone would be
a welcome manna from heaven
Its acrid fumes Insulating
The pervading odour of death
The brain
Can no longer comprehend the carnage
The heart
Its weight of grief
Like zombies, we stumble on
One heavy step
Follows the other
AN UNNECESSARY DEATH
Fear and pain
Propelled you from a safe environment
Into the shadow of death
Too soon
Alas, no longer can
A timid heart-beat
The shallow breath
Be sustained
Wrenched from life- support
Transformed
Into an anonymous bundle
A CHILD’S CRY
Allah,
Do not, I pray
Desert me now
Do I deserve this dreadful fate?
No more the comfort
Of my mother’s touch
The reassurance of my father’s voice
No more
My sisters’ childish peals of laughter
Allah
It is too much to bear!