The Cloud

​It was dark, murky, and haunting.

It sucked the blood of the innocent

to fatten the pockets of the unkind.

For me and for many, this cloud was our only sky 

it lasted the length of my childhood,

weaving itself into every memory I own.

​I remember the day it struck our roof,

the shell blasting the earth just meters away.

We woke on mats of shredded Palmyrah leaves

shaking the dust from our lungs.

I remember being dragged into the bunker,

hiding from an attack that had no face.

They had no clue who they were targeting,

but the cloud didn't care.

​I remember the tree that stood in the way—

it took the shrapnel meant for my family home, 

Thanks to the wood which kept me alive. 

I remember the long lines for a loaf of bread,

and the single, flickering kerosene lamp

that gave us two hours to eat and study.

No phones, no power, no transport, no gas.

Only the radio humming with the BBC news at 9.15 pm,

while I studied, and studied, and studied—

the only weapon I had against the dark.

​I survived. I took all these years and dumped the memory

into a deep, locked corner of my mind.

But now, the cloud has returned,

and it is more horrendous than before.

​It is an oozing, suffocating fog

that feeds the ego of the powerful.

It enriches the sick and the selfish,

those who grow wealthy while the world burns.

I see it now, surrounding a new generation—

children making memories they should never have to hold.

​I look at them and I wonder:

How will they find a path through this smoke?

How will they figure out a future

when their present is written in fire?

The cloud steals their light just as it stole mine,

leaving them to navigate a world

built by those who thrive on their hunger.

​The cloud is back, but I am still here.

I survived the  storm, and I will survive this one.

But for the children in the war zone

how will they ever see the sun?

News:  The missiles reportedly destroyed a girl’s primary school in Middle East , killing around 150 and wounding almost 100. Many students are believed to be among the dead.

01 03 26 

Sikaran