O motherland,
My heart bleeds for you.
Every breath of freedom
seems borrowed,
the heart is dulled with pain,
the air is heavy with guilt.
I am guilty of not being a valiant hero
that fearlessly crosses the oceans that divide us
and walks into the battle field
where warriors in white coats
fight for every last life.
Where grieving and helpless citizens
watch with surrendered grief as another life is lost,
another friend crosses over.
Unsure how much to grieve,
and how many tears to save,
for when the next death is announced,
as now we are running out of water in our eyes.
The numbers keep climbing up,
the slow march of illness and death
moves relentlessly forward.
And all the while I sit here,
across oceans and borders,
in the safety of my adopted land,
while loved ones in the motherland
wave goodbye on phone screens and
hope to see you in another life, another time.
In a few kind glances,
they tell endless tales of love,
of shared memories and
many desires of togetherness,
some fulfilled
many unfulfilled.
But now they have to go,
there is no other chance
To see them, to hear then
to hug them once again.
My motherland,
my heart bleeds for you.
And I know yours bleeds for me too
Airak 