War is at the doorstep. What do you want me to do? You say I must run- but where you do not say- Where do I go When this is the only home I know You say, 'Do it for your family.' And I agree. I wake my sleeping children Stuff my pockets with money, and bags with food and clothes, and toys 'Go!' you say. 'Before, its too late.' But how- how do I take it all? I have two hands- one for each child whose hand I must hold My back - it hurts- but it's what I've got So, I'll carry what I can and the rest I'll leave, behind.
I’m participating in Reena’s Exploration challenge which requires me to include the sentence somewhere in your piece.“War is at the doorstep. What do you expect me to do?”
And with this poem, I’m not going to write any more on the war. It does not mean I do not care. I do. So, I’ll pray for peace and help in any way I can. But, I’m taking a friend’s advice and sharing it here for all those who feel like they are drowning because of all that’s happening around them. She reminded me, ‘It’s best not to dwell too much on what you cannot control.” Strangely, this is how I’ve led my life hereto – not focussing on things beyond my control. But the suddenness of this war, the shock that we hadn’t learnt even after two years of being held hostage by Covid, swept me into it and for a while, I forgot that I need to focus on the good.
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