Poem #1280: Crisis Rising

Seven years of war in Yemen and still no respite in sight.
Photo Courtesy: UNHCR

Seven years

Of depravity

An ocean of tears

Riven by famine

A land gone to hell

In a food basket

We forget to yell

Out casket after casket

From Yemen

Yeah men

War sprouts

Like stamen

We lost count

Of children

Starved to death

Hopelessly left

To die slow

Like a butterfly

Lured by ember glow

Distance blurs gory sights

As millions alive

Face same fate

That erased a wasted race

Love can revive

The deadest thing

And keep hope alive

If we let our hearts be

Led into an awakening

Of fiery empathy.

Akpan