War Torn

Lost amidst the silence, while searching through the crowd
Pressed amidst the violence, the blood haze like a shroud
The death is all about me, bodies torn limb from limb
I struggle just to try and see, searching still to find him

The boy was here before, when I passed through the other day
I’d told him tales of war, and told him to travel far away
He looked at me and smiled, not understanding what I said
He was only a little child, and likely now was dead

The news across the ocean is filled with numbers and with facts
But there’s no commotion over these horrific attacks
“It’s someone else’s problem, so far across the sea
Someone else can solve them, someone else not me”

But now I have before me this crumpled child’s remains
My heart itself is torn free, my hands covered in stains
For once I was one of them, so far away from here
Not caring about these children, not shedding a single tear

I cry out to the empty void, the acrid smell fills my nose
Of razed buildings left destroyed and of burning flesh and clothes
The sobs rack my body as the pain rips at my heart
Why can’t the world see this hatred’s tearing us apart?