sometimes you
are made to suffer
for no fault of yours
traumas whose
scars you carry
for the rest
of your days
this sorrow
you cannot bear
this weight in
your heart
makes you sink
to the bottom
of despair
till you die
and become one
with the Earth
and air.
some things you must do
or you will suffer
some people are so wicked
you have to be strong
then the laughter of the children
feel like bird chirp and flowers
only then does life become real
where the impossible happens
and you skate all along the night sky
visiting every star
and the world is an interesting book you read
and you exchange lives with all humans
all living beings and things past and future
and you kneel on the Earth and kiss its face.
they know their world is gone
they are not fools
although they are young
and small
they feel pain too
and the babies next door
seem to have lost their hearts
their universe
and they howl at the loss
and it is heartbreaking to hear
their wailing so painful
as though they would die
and you understand
that we were born to suffer
and see our lives snuffed out
and our cosmos disappear.
and met with
an accident
and now we
are broken
and can’t be
put together again
how our fates
are entwined
the same elements
we are made of
brothers we are
and now we are
both in disarray
shattered and hurt
I suffer
in silence
knowing
any moment now
we could die.
and you will suffer
in this world
the moon your mother
will wipe your tears
but that won’t be enough
the universe is brutal
it will hurt you
and the sun
your father
won’t be able
to help you
you will hold
your aching belly
and weep
your wound
is really deep
and the cosmos
has turned into
a rubbish heap
onto which
you are dumped
and now you yearn
for death
you get up and run
looking for it
you shout
death death
where are you
come take my life
I have had enough.
Dominic Alapat 