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

Mike Odetalla (12/2008)