I'm sorry.

a poem for the kids in Gaza, Congo, and Guatemala.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry the world is hurting today.

I’m sorry people are dying somewhere far away from me

and also, not far at all.

I see their lives end,

I see their families online,

I see the fire around them

while I sit in bed.

I’m sorry that I get to hear church bells

ringing where I am

and not bombs and guns.

I’m sorry

that I wake up to fallen leaves on the window

and not to ash and debris.

I’m sorry the street is quiet in the morning

and that I breathe in and the air

is clean and simple—

I’m sorry that children are dying

and I don’t want to have kids.

I’m sorry that when I am cold

I close the window and curl up in bed.

I’m sorry that I sleep on a bed

and not on the floor, fearing for my life.

I am so terribly sorry.

It is not fair.

I did nothing different to deserve this.

I was born and so were they.

The only difference between them and I

is I was not born in a place of war and terrorism,

and yet children in my home country are terrorized daily.

I am terrorized.

By the killing in Gaza,

by the war in Congo,

by the indifference given to Guatemalan children.

I am sorry I was born elsewhere, in safety, and loved.

You all deserve to be loved.

I love you.

Photo by Charlein Gracia on Unsplash

This is a poem I wrote last year, mid-October, when the war in Gaza was ongoing. I am grateful for ceasefire. However, this does not at all change the facts. Children were viciously murdered. Children are murdered every day. Today, over 50 people died in a crash in Guatemala City. The bus driver was speeding and failed to control the vehicle, and it ended upside down under a bridge. Children were on their way to school. Mothers, fathers were on their way to work. The war in Congo is still ongoing. Children in Gaza will still have lived through a war. Guatemalan children are dying, starving, and some are now orphans. I understand this a hard read, but please, God and all good above, please have mercy. I just hope this poem helps us all remember our healing work is just beginning. Hug your mother. Love a stranger. Act kindly as much as possible. and please, keep on having heart wrenching conversations that evoke change, that elevate consciousness. Whatever it takes to brings us all in harmony and together working to do better, every day.

With much love and an aching heart,

Natalia, La Lejana