It’s not enough to care

It’s not enough to care:

thousands dead,

millions hurt,

angry Earth,

the rubble of unopened life,

a massacre,

a visit from Hell.

Two minutes is all it took

to bring the walls down,

to bury infants,

to suffocate sinners,

to exterminate, obliterate, create terror

without relief,

with overflowing coffins.

My mother’s heart attacked,

my father suffocated under dust,

there will be no recovery,

the Lion has died,

as if the goodness has been squashed out.

Let’s not forget the geckos, cats, dogs, goldfish, spiders – even the cockroaches and earthworms

– all creatures grand and precious –

I am Kahramanmaras, Malatya, Antakya, Gaziantep, Iskenderun, and Aleppo.

I am You.

Open the crossings,

let fuel in,

light the heaters,

let love flow across the border

between life and death.

Aid your sisters,

save your brothers,

dig your children out.

It’s not enough to care anymore.