Poem: ‘over there’, Is Here

—©Lozan Yamolky (Dreamers Needed 2019)

Think of me and see my face
when bullets replace spoken words;
when destructive bombs overtake
and drown even the loudest voices
calling for peace.

Think of me and see my face

when trading arms

replaces the shaking of hands;

when an invading army

sweeps the land
and spill the blood

of unarmed civilians.

Think of me and see my face
when sovereign national

songs of freedom
are drowned out by the shrieks
of frightened children.

Think of me and see my face when men in power become blind to the sight

of weeping mothers

and broken old men
who just want to live in their land.

Think of me and see my face
and a million other faces
when your rulers send you

to my homeland and tell you

my life is not worth counting

when I am wounded

or lost or killed.

See me and know that ‘over there’,
is not that far at all.

It is here, it is now.

What happens to you here in our land,

affects your homeland too.

Over there, is here;

it is me, it is her, and it is him.

It is the mother:
the father,
the child,
the student,
the doctor,
and even the soldier
that is forced to serve
or be destroyed.

It is someone that feels: loves;
hungers;
hurts,
and hopes to live in peace.

‘Over there’, is here
and what happens here,

affects the whole world.

So, think of me and see my face
when someone tells you
‘don’t worry about it because it is over there and over there is too far from here’.

3 thoughts on “Poem: ‘over there’, Is Here”

Lozan, I have read this wonderful poem before, and it still resonates and vibrates. It is so powerful. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Lozan Yamolky