The Night
By Mike Odetalla
The approaching darkness
fills the heart with dread and fear
as the doors and windows are sealed
We extinguish the light and huddle
embracing as one
and wait...
The waiting is the hardest of all
nerves frayed and voices hushed
we wait...
We pray for the dawn to come
to remove the blanket of fear
yet we wait...
And then it comes
With brilliant flashes of light
piercing the night sky
the lightning that precedes ...
The thunder...
Thunder arrives
blinding eruptions of light
and destruction
The ears ring with pain
The body shakes and trembles
Cries of children fill the night
the flashes of thunder
fill them with fright
in their mothers tight embrace
they seek comfort...
and then wait once again...
The night is still young
their dirty works has just begun
The Israeli planes will be back...
The night is long
longer without sleep
even longer when you weep
I curse the night
for it brings death and fright