Earthquake Children - Ümit Sivrioðlu Özkan

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For the Children Whose Lives were Shattered
by the Earth Quake
I never knew the little boy buried under the concrete
I never met the little girl who died, her life so incomplete.
I did not know her face, I did not know his name,
Yet, I mourn them all the same.

Among the debris, his little toys scattered
His world, so full of hope, irrevocably shattered.
He looks for his parents in vain
As if he were my own, I feel his pain.

She will never know her mother's warm embrace,
She may never know her father's resting place.
I am not there when she trembles and shivers
Yet, filled with her sorrow, my heart quivers.

Nothing is left of his hopes, his childhood dreams
Still ringing in his ears are the desperate screams
He could be my brother, my nephew, my son,
My heart is so heavy, I can't carry on.

Her little body is bruised and aching
All she feels right now is her heart breaking
Yes, there is an ocean that keeps us apart
But she is in my thoughts, she is in my heart.

Their little bodies drenched by the rains
The terror of the quake is all that remains
They are not strangers, we know them, in deed
They are citizens of the world -- children in need.


Ümit S.Özkan
August 1999, Columbus, Ohio



Ümit Sivrioðlu Özkan ©1999