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A Crossfire Chronicle

By December 21, 2022No Comments

#ArtoonsInnPoetryParlour   #Pentastich   #Poattic-16 (June 2022)

Prompt requirement: the first line of the first stanza had to be repeated as L2, L3, L4, and L5 in the successive stanzas.

This is a dedication to all those children who suffer from a scarred and lost childhood, thanks to the displacement caused by war. Human trafficking is rampant in such vulnerable situations.

 

A CROSSFIRE CHRONICLE

My soul feels parched, craving copious showers of peace

My dim and bleary eyes search for a familiar face,

A loving touch. Maybe…Mummy’s lullaby? I find neither here –

An isolated camp, far from home, with dark eerie corners

Where I crouch and cower, amidst a sea of strangers.

 

I shudder to remember the guns blazing, our house crumbling…

(My soul feels parched, craving copious showers of peace)

Our rosebush had just flowered, our kitty had a litter

My new xylophone, still bubble-wrapped, perished under the rubble

The warm grate snuffed out, leaving the cold debris behind.

 

The whispers grow louder as cruel eyes peer at me

Scared, I hug my rag doll, she cuddles me back

My soul feels parched, craving copious showers of peace

“Good catch…watch over her…jackpot!” fragmented words waft in

My eyes smart, head hammers, I muffle an agonised scream!

 

Mummy, I miss the musty whiff of your soup-stained tunic

And Daddy, I won’t be a pesky child, I promise!

Do come back now, please…let’s finish this hide-and-seek game

My soul feels parched, craving copious showers of peace

Let’s gather around the fireplace again, basking in love.

 

Conflict and crossfire, death and disease – I’ve seen it all;

“Tomorrow, we leave at dawn,” a steely voice instructs me.

Where for? Why me alone…and why this hush-hush?

 Weary of fearing…hoping…praying, my tender heart feels torpid

My soul feels parched, craving copious showers of peace!

 

P.C. Susie Ho on Unsplash

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