The upsetting scenes in Bucha. Unimaginable. So I wrote a poem.
Net Curtain (for Bucha)
When you came here
Your Mother made you a net curtain.
If you squinted your eyes just right,
The sun would change on the horizon.
The net curtain taps the seconds on the window frame,
Tap, tap, tap.
With your chin on your hands for hours.
The safety, security of a young life just begun.
Dead corn bristles outside.
When they squint their eyes just right,
They distort the whole sun.
Noises outside.
Men’s voices…
She tugs at your arm.
She pulls at your arm.
Damned curiosity!
Can’t innocent children be free?
And just then, embroidered between her breath,
As if nothing is happening,
The net curtain taps the seconds on the window frame.
James Lawrence | April 2022
