A New Poem About the Slaughter of the Children in Gaza
by Julie Webster
No laughter no joy,
Not even smiles.
Hard to feel anything,
I’ve walked for miles.
I don’t even recognize,
This town where I’m from.
The buildings now rubble,
Every last one.
The colors are gone,
I only see gray.
Not even sure,
If it’s night or day
I’ve lost my way,
I need some sleep.
No shoes to protect,
My swollen feet.
Where am I going?
I follow the crowd.
I’m afraid to speak,
Or talk out loud.
Walking along,
Everyone in file.
But not for long,
Not even a mile.
We hear a loud sound,
Thunder and boom.
We all disperse,
And wait for doom.
No place to go to
No place to hide.
Constantly fearing,
The other side.
Crouching behind
Whatever’s close by.
The sound I now hear,
Is children who cry.
Bombs hit near-by
Know how I can tell?
It’s not just the sound,
But the fireworks smell.
Then a long silence,
Before the moans,
Whines and wails…
Now I hear groans.
Where am I?
They’ve destroyed our city.
Who will come?
To help and pity.
I had a family,
Now they’re gone.
They died all at once,
Where do I belong?
Why do they hate me?
What did I do?
Is it my fault?
I haven’t a clue!
Is anyone coming
To my aid?
Alone and hopeless,
I’m really afraid.
Does the rest of the world
Even care?
If I live or die,
Is this rare?
How do I go forward,
And have a good life?
After so much pain,
So much strife.
Can I feel love,
When so torn apart?
Will I be able
To express my own art?
What will my book look like?
What will it give?
To the world who ignored me,
Then expected me to live.
How will I ever
Make my own way?
Who will I turn to
To know how to say?
What I don’t even know
Like how to feel.
When this new life
Doesn’t feel real.
Will I go forward,
Or accept a worse fate
When I’m full of Sadness,
despair and hate?
The world won’t forget
This shameful history.
Why ‘humans’ allow this
Is one big mystery.
Not even animals
Are so cruel and mean
To carry out atrocities
As we’ve seen.
We’re worse than creatures,
Not ‘humans’
as we say
Going downhill fast Into decay
Our world will not last
With this kind of fear
What once was our world
Will soon disappear.