"Upon Contemplating Darfur"

Mothers watch their children die,
Rocking them to sleep.
Broken down by fear and shame,
Hopelessly they weep.

Orphans starve for food and love,
Ignorant of peace.
Innocence was never theirs’
As horrors never cease.

Brothers watch as Sisters’ souls
Are stolen in the night.
Blinding tears and buried prayers.
Wounded doves in flight.

Reeling from the terrible truth.
Straining just to see
Why these people struggle so-
Fighting just to be.

22 April 2008
Travis Shillington