Helpless Concern

*
The process of detoxification ground to a halt tonight
the problem is increasing, every time I look at the girl
on the front page of Time magazine, Aisha, a young
Afghan girl whose nose and ears were cut off by
order of the Taliban, I cry again

The crime is atrocious, by now I should be inured to the
shock element, yet her plight scares me, feeds the fear
that worsens the allergy, I cry for her experience of pain,
for a world that contains hypocrites using religion as an
excuse to commit heinous crimes

No progress was made in regaining equilibrium, looking for
that safe place deep in my heart, the calm in the eye of the
storm, cannot concentrate to read or sleep while under
threat of meaninglessness in the belief we have to
assign significance to the world

When feeling like this, I lose all meaning, tomorrow
the quest for wisdom will begin again, not eating food
causing trouble, knowing the bright colours of magic and
the glitter of mystery will return as soon as these dark
moments pass - even my beloved storybooks

Are sliding from my grip, my head turned into stone, my
heart only resonates with pain, impossible to confess
illness and face other people’s helpless concern,
must solve this problem myself…
*