Whisperings of Agony
This poem was written in the wake of the Las Vegas shootings in October. One of my colleagues was in the US at the time, and paid honour to the victims of the massacre when visiting the memorial site. The memory of the conversation she had with me has stayed with me and I think of all the innocent people who are lost to all of us through guns, bombs, wars, massacres and the like. Those thoughts are what inspired me to write
“ Whisperings of Agony”. I share it with you. Go well, stay well, be well.
Whisperings of Agony
By Cheri Yavu-Kama-Harathunian © IWC Bundaberg 2017
Why is the heart so crazy, screaming, wailing torn apart?
Who are these mad men running, so obsessed with giving pain?
Is terror all they want to give to the human family?
Are their hearts so filled with hatred at themselves and all of us?
Which house, which street, which city’s celebration
Will be turned into a funeral pyre
Today, tomorrow, tonight perhaps, how do they decide?
Why is the heart so crazy, screaming, wailing torn apart?
The cruel and brutal sounds of torture, human beings violence! Wild!
Who will be those left weeping and those who laugh with glee?
At the wounded agony inflicted, their hatreds now unleashed
A child torn and broken crying, “Mommy, Daddy, please, where are you, can you hear me? Somebody help me please.
Mommy can you kiss it better, take the pain away?
I’m hurting bad all over and my head is bleeding too
Mommy, wake up! Look at me! Please Mommy talk to me!
Everybody’s screaming out so loud
Look there! That’s my Daddy’s arm but my Daddy isn’t there
Daddy where’s the rest of you, I’ll hold your arm and wait
You have to find me Daddy I’m so scared please take me home”.
Why is the heart so crazy, screaming, wailing torn apart?
Which lane or car are they in right now high five-ing the chaos they’ve caused?
Did human beings do these acts do these atrocities?
People screaming, running, wailing looking here and there
Terror! Terror! In the air and fear on every face
Hands pressed over eyes and ears trying to block the scene
Sirens screeching, carnage bleeding, blasts, and bullets ricochet
Where’s the memories for childhood?
When it’s nightmares that are left.
Why is the heart so crazy, screaming, wailing torn apart?
Someone tell us who they are
Please help us understand
Will this be our future now, hell erupting all around?
And what is this emotional tune, sad, lamenting sobbing soft?
What music is this melancholy tune, just heartache without sound?
What music is creating rhythms to harmonise?
With people’s crying, people’s screaming, loud and tortured sounds
Why is the heart so crazy, screaming, wailing torn apart?
Why is the earth so timid to show that we they were there?
Another bullet shot! Another triggered bomb!
And the blood of all the innocents washed away into a drain.
If you listen closely, you’ll hear a whispered sound
Its whispers from the Innocents, “Please remember me.”