Mom?
with sympathies and apologies to the children in Aleppo and all other young souls alike, past and present, whose innocence is over and again trampled and robbed by us adults, collectively
Mom, tell me why? Why? Why do they keep shooting each other? Why do the bombs keep falling down? The machine guns, why are they so loud? Do they really hate each other? Why? Why, Mom? Why? Where’s Dad? I haven’t seen him for so long, is he okay? Do we still have food? Mom, what if they come after us? What if they bomb our house? Mom, I’m cold, Mom? Will we have a place to stay? Are you listening, Mom? Please, tell me, Mom? When I grow up, will I have to be one of them? Can I just be a kid forever? ’Cause I just don’t understand why they fight, Mom? Didn’t you say good kids shouldn’t pick fights, Mom? But why do grown-ups fight each other, and never stop? Mom? I’m scared, Mom? I’m really, really, really scared, Mom? Are we safe? Can we just run away? I just don’t want to see my friends dying anymore, Mom? Is that too much to ask? Kids in other places, why can they go to school? Why, Mom? Why can they eat, why can they stay warm? I don’t understand any of this, you know? How long will all this last? How long will things be like this? What’s wrong with all these people, Mom? Do they really have to kill each other? Why? Do they hate us too, Mom? Does anyone know we are scared? Anyone? Anyone at all? People in other places, Mom, do they know about us? Who are the bad guys? And who are the good ones? Tell me, Mom, ’cause I can’t tell anymore? Mom? Mom? Mom? Are you listening, Mom? Mom, wake up, Mom? Mom? Mom? Can you hear me, Mom? Don’t leave me, Mom, promise me, promise me Mom? You’re not leaving me, right, right Mom? Mom? Are you there? Don’t, Mom, please don’t? Don’t, don’t leave me, Mom? Don’t leave me, Mom? Mom? Please, please, please, please? Please don’t die, Mom? Wake up, Mom, wake up? Mom? Mom? Wake up, Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom?…