Wadea, six years old, stabbed to death
in Illinois, USA, 26 times for being Muslim,
by his landlord, by hatred, by racism,
by a world that has lost its way.
I've booked myself into a room
in the Hotel of Despond.
I don't need a rose or some chocolates
on the pillow.
I just need some time to replenish
my stores of hope.
in the Hotel of Despond.
I don't need a rose or some chocolates
on the pillow.
I just need some time to replenish
my stores of hope.
My heart needs a nap for about 100 years,
can't take the war, man's inhumanity
to man, to children, to the impoverished
and dispossessed, and to other non-human beings
with whom we so grudgingly share this planet.
can't take the war, man's inhumanity
to man, to children, to the impoverished
and dispossessed, and to other non-human beings
with whom we so grudgingly share this planet.
I require a time-out from the pain
of weeping parents
of murdered or abducted Israelis
on my tv screen,
of terrified Palestinian civilians,
fleeing with rag bundles,
trying to escape what Hamas has wrought,
with the borders closed and the UN saying
"There is no safe place."
of weeping parents
of murdered or abducted Israelis
on my tv screen,
of terrified Palestinian civilians,
fleeing with rag bundles,
trying to escape what Hamas has wrought,
with the borders closed and the UN saying
"There is no safe place."
A small girl looks into the camera,
sobbing, "How are we supposed to live?
There is no one to protect us."
And then there is Wadea,
six years old, wearing his birthday hat,
murdered by his crazed-with-hatred landlord
for being a Muslim little boy.
sobbing, "How are we supposed to live?
There is no one to protect us."
And then there is Wadea,
six years old, wearing his birthday hat,
murdered by his crazed-with-hatred landlord
for being a Muslim little boy.
Cancel my reservation
at the Hotel of Despond.
I've booked a room
at the Heartbreak Hotel,
and I won't be coming out
any time soon.
at the Hotel of Despond.
I've booked a room
at the Heartbreak Hotel,
and I won't be coming out
any time soon.
Valarie Kaur, the wonderful speaker and author of See No Stranger, wrote about Wadea, and asks us "what would love have you do?" At this point, when babies and children and old people, innocent civilians all, are being abducted, terrorized and murdered, or are fleeing bombs, running towards closed borders, love has me weeping. How many wars will it take to prove no one ever really wins a war?
for Mary's prompt at What's Going On? Hotel, which posts at 11 a.m. eastern on Wednesday.
Wearing a birthday hat, expecting many more years makes what happened all the more tragic, if that were possible. You express what many feel. Deep empathy and outrage can destroy hope in humanity for a time; it helps to write it out. Like Desmond Tutu said: “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”
ReplyDeleteThe story of little Wadea is just so sad. How did it happen that the world has been so filled with people who are filled with such hate? A child!! A mere child. So many heartbreaking situations. The Heartbreak Hotel will be full. Powerful writing, Sherry.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Tennyson wrote "Ring out the thousand wars of old,". And we are also saying the same thing. Wars will never end, neither will hatred; it's in the human DNA. Such stories will rise. So, so sad.
ReplyDeleteYour words are very powerful, Sherry. Piercing.
Such a waste of a child’s life, Sherry, indeed the whole war is a waste of lives, which makes me want to book into the Heartbreak Hotel with you. I too ‘need some time to replenish my stores of hope’.
ReplyDeleteSherry you have said it all. Now there is nothing to say. A wonderful poem of now. SomethingsIthinkabout-annell
ReplyDeleteA heartbreaking poem of the horror wrought by terrorism and displacement... It seems that the heartbreak hotel will be overbooked...Golda Meir once said that Israel's 'secret weapon' was that "we have no place to go" Hamas does not want peace and is using innocent Palestinians as shields and pawns... Too many unfortunately never knew or forget that the return to Israel was a saving grace for those who the world rejected and who perished in genocide in a "civilized" western world... how horrific that Israel time and time again faces this irresolvable dilemma as forces of evil raise their hatred any time a move toward acceptance and potential peace draws near. It is a wonderful poem and an awful time.
ReplyDeleteYes it's absolutely heart breaking I have no words and just look at these atrocities and feel sick in the stomach. You have captured this well in this great poem
ReplyDeleteThis poem makes me reaffirm my intention to BE the hope. Try to be the change I want to see.
ReplyDelete"My heart needs a nap for about 100 years" and as you lay out what takes you from despond to heartbreak, I realize that only a good long sleep will allow all, any, each of us to wake from this nightmare. That's probably the metaphor at the heart of The Sleeping Beauty . . . and I think I'll use that in a bizarre, new solo performance. Thank you for the truth of this poem. There is no solace.
ReplyDeleteJust brilliant Sherry ! Rall
ReplyDeleteSuch deaths are cruel, gruesome and senseless. How challenging the security in some region hads become. Heartbreaking news....captured so well.
ReplyDeleteI fear wars will never go away as conflicts continue to grow throughout the world - True...
ReplyDeleteSo much misery Sherry, so much darkness. I have checked into Hotel Espoir (hope).
ReplyDeleteSadly, the innocent often pay the highest price. - True...
ReplyDelete