The Color of Terror ...

The Color of Terror ...

   A little child huddled in a dark lonely corner
   Shivering from the cold and fright,
   The pangs of hunger inflicting wretched pain
   On the flail and emaciated body
   A wake yet oblivious to all around,
   Wide eyed, yet seeing nothing
   But the colors of the terror that lie ahead ...

   A mother quietly resting beside her husband, listening
   To the cries of anguish from her child
   Numbed by hopelessness and impotence

   To suffer in silence to eke a life of misery,
   In a God forsaken land, barren
   Bare but of the dm of war and vengeance
   And the colors of the terror that lie ahead ...

   A father lying wide awake on a bed of straw
   In deep despair of the new dawn and what it brings
   No hope, nor respite from the quicksand of a life
   That has existed thus from inception
   Never changing, ever dismal
   A future without horizon, nor speck of Light
   But the colors of the terror that lie ahead ...

   A family gathers on the kitchen floor
   To share a meagre meal of stale bread and tea
   Like it has been done since forever
   No time for kindness or polite etiquette
   Each lost in their own thoughts of the day ahead
   No time for reveries ... only silence'
   And the Colors of the terror that lie ahead

   In a drab one room apartment, in total dis-array
   A lone woman sits, mindlessly staring at the blank wall
   Eyes swollen, her cheeks, stained by her tears
   Which no longer come.
   Arms folded on her lap
   Cradling her rounded belly

   She rocks to and fro
   As if in rhythm with the heartbeat of her unborn child.
   In complete hopelessness she ponders
   The future ...

   And the colors of terror that lie ahead
   An old man, dressed in rags
   Shuffles along the busy street pushing a discarded grocery cart
   Oblivious to the passers-by and them of him
   Focused upon reaching his destination
   To secure a spot under the overpass

   To pass the night away from the elements and din of life,
   A life, devoid of color but that of the terror which lies ahead,

   The young man in search of a cigarette to calm his nerves ...
   None but discarded butts by the overturned ashtray
   Totally frustrated, he searches frantically....
   The buzz in his head gets louder and gives way to pounding
   With trembling hands he reaches for the phone to arrange a fix
   No response ...
   In frustration he collapses ... a whimpering heap to the floor,
   Frightened and alone, to face the colors of terror that lie ahead

   Land of the free, red, white and blue
   Overflowing, ever-flowing river of green
   Where speed is king, on wires, roads and in the air
   Here today and gone tomorrow ...
   Plenty insurance without assurance
   Neon lights and flashing screens, forever changing,
   The colors of terror that lie ahead.

   Power bases with hidden agendas wielding laws and lies
   Creating insecurity in this land of plenty
   Building false hopes and illusions of steel
   On the backs of others and iron whip
   But like the last straw on the camel's back
   None too soon, there is a crack ... revealing
   A colored rainbow of terror that lies ahead.