Here is the poem a lot of poets wanted to write this week—me included.
Here is the poem a lot of poets wanted to write this week—me included.
Filed under #poetrycommunity, #writingcommunity, Poetry, Writing
Tagged as #amwriting, #poetrycommunity, #writingcommunity, earthquake, Poetry
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Thank you for sharing this, Luanne.
It all feels unreal.
Yes, it does. I was listening on All Things Considered to a Turkish doctor working in Syria describing the situation–the combination of natural disaster and war.
Oh, that must have been so hard to just hear about. But the thought of all that devastation and the world has forgotten Syria. The world is almost forgetting Ukraine at this point.
So true.
Beautifully written.
Such a smart way of tackling the subject. Because we keep watching that death count go up.
The truth of that made every hair on my body stand on end. I know that the small amount of money I sent is like a grain of sand when we need beaches full to make a dent in the pain.
Well put, Amy. My iPhone says the death count is now at 35,000. I can’t grasp this.
Heart wrenching
It is. It’s beyond comprehension, I think.
This expresses the thoughts of so many of us.
That is my response to this poem. It’s such a natural response. The helpless watching of the “count” ticking up.
I know. It’s so … beyond “sad.”
The situation is sad, Luanne. This poem expresses the enormity of the tragedy. Thanks for sharing.
Exactly. It really does. Thanks, John.
I just listened to the poet read his poem. Both equally powerful. Once death counts of any disaster start ticking up and up and up, we’re unable to think of all those dead as individuals, and it horrifies us.
Oh so true. It’s beyond awful. I cannot imagine. But that doesn’t stop me from trying.
Me either.
The thing is, it didn’t have to be this bad if corruption wasn’t so rampant in Turkey, and Syria a completely failed government. If they had constructed the buildings up to earthquake standards. If the response hadn’t been so slow. If the tax the people have been paying all these years for earthquake insurance had been spent to actually create the means to respond quickly to another earthquake in an area known for its earthquakes. If they’d opened up more than one avenue into Syria for relief workers. If they’d had more dogs trained and ready for this kind of emergency. If, if, if,
The earthquake was an act of God, as they like to say, but the horrendous extent of the casualties and devastation was man made. Those numbers didn’t have to tick up so high. It’s heart-breaking, and infuriating, and criminal.
I agree with you 100% but would add one thing. I saw photos of how wide the earth opened on BBC news, and in those areas nothing could have prevented tragedy except allowing nothing along the fault lines.
All too much to take in
It really is.
Thank you for sharing this poem! It is beautifully written…It is hard to put something so tragic into words, and yet, this poem says so much.
You’re welcome. I know. That count he put in the poem is so effective because that’s how it has been for those of us so removed from the tragedy.
It is a beautiful, heartfelt poem by Michael Mark. Words for a tragedy of this scale are hard to come by.
He did so well with it because he went with exactly how we respond (in our heads).
It hurts too much to cry.
Yes, I know.
<3