First you have to see
The weary woman
Creases snaking through parchment skin
Death stole her grown babies
Wailing infant tightly attached
Hungry screams
The widow and orphan
Their only provision each other
She bends plunging rags that resemble shirts
Into murky water
Again and again
First you have to see
The small black-eyed boy
Running the dusty roads to school
At night he cowers on a grass mat soaked in fear
In a final moment parents and protection were ripped away
He shakes tormented
Night after night
First you have to see
The teenage girl
Making tentative steps into womanhood
Now she is the parent
World decimated by death’s wrecking ball
Her little brother and sister
Quiet and glassy eyed
No food in the house
How will she provide
She is just a girl
Twelve is too young
First you have to see
The man on the road
Bloody
Bruised
Battered
Left for dead
First you have to see
Inches from brokenness
The person of influence passes by
Consumed with false responsibility
Places to go
People to see
He crossed to the other side
Leaving a man to die
First you have to see
He walked along the road
It would have been easy to miss
The victim deathly still
Cast aside
Buried alive
First you have to see
Each step
Closer
The halting gate of a broken man
Born the wrong race
Half-Breed
Trash
Worthless
How many times had he heard the names
First you have to see
He walked on
Hoping
Looking
Seeing the man cast aside
Broken
Bleeding
Alone
The Samaritan acted
Helping
Loving
Providing
Because first you have to see
by: Morgan McKeown © 2015