2011 ASA/APP Second Annual Poetry Writing Competition

Honorable Mention: Adult Category

TIME FOR TRUTH

By Taleen Nazarian

Within the place where dark exists,

Is the glow of embers that persists,

The suffering of the past is harder yet,

When you mislead others or “forget,”

Time doesn’t heal the wrong that’s there,

Nor does your apathy clear the air,

You wash your hands of their daily grime,

But no soap will wash away your crime,

Unclench that fist so full of hate,

It is your doing, and not just fate,

Those tears that flow will not subside,

They tell the truth, that you try to hide,

The wails of children like daggers pierce,

Their pleading eyes will never cease,

To ask you in your soundest sleep,

Why pour salt in wounds so deep?

The world calls out for social justice,

But drowns the futile cries of anguish,
And like that river that ran red,

Swallows the innocent, instead,

The desert tosses and turns at night,

It too, cannot forget the sight,

Of blistered skin and blood-stained sands,

Of grandmothers dying with folded hands,

Their prayers are now ours, as is their pain,

The call for justice will never wane,

Our children are the reason why,

The fight for truth will never die.

 

17nov2009