IN QUIET DIGNITY.



Images flicker across the screen
golden sands, blue skies and trees of green
as people play on the beach and in the waves
exploring all the coves and caves...
Until time stood still.

Now new images flicker across the screen
where once played those who made this their holiday destination
now just scenes of total devastation
as humankind struggled to survive
and make some sense of what just happened to their lives

and yet...
In quiet dignity
those who lived through it ignore the rules
forced upon them by religion and nationality
and help by doing all they can
and share with all a sense of common humanity
that most of us will never share
a sense of loss without despair
a sense of kinship with all those affected there
as cameramen behind the scenes
seem struck dumb by what they've seen
There is no purpose
none at all
the sheer waste and devastation numbs us all
and there are no words that can be said
after witnessing so many dead
and dying and in distress
How can words do justice to this mess
This carnage...
This open wound ?

And yet...
With quiet dignity
the people who it most affected
go on with their lives
with a sense of fate...
a sense of karma...
a sense of what will be will be
as we go on watching flickering images
on a television screen
and faces turn to the wall
and quiet prayers are said
A tear runs slowly down a cheek
How does one grasp the sense of so many dead ?
When time stood still.