By Inbal Singer –
When the dust has settled
The crackly graininess in our eyes
Mixed with tears a kind of mud
The world no longer recognizable
nor hopeful
or safe as it was days before.
When the dust has cleared,
Breath has found it’s way back in lungs
no longer able to expand,
gripped with a new fear
Like talons clawing at our hearts
Leaving us barely standing.
Survivors
Like my Safta
Only she thought we were done
with wars like those.
Had she lived long enough
She would have died all over again.
When the dust clears
How do you grieve
For all the losses –
Grief for lives and a future you thought you knew.
So many illusions shattered that day
Shards of mirror scattered on the ground
Beware of the cuts on your feet
A crumbling earth.
A sky full of missiles
headed your way.
It’s you they seek
You’re a Jew.
Yet you still must breathe
And you still must grieve
And the babies.
You haven’t even allowed your mind
the thought.
It’s too much it’s too much.
So you paint.
And in your mind’s eye
You free the babies –
They are so happy now.
Safe. They are safe.
They are lightweight and airy
No crushing weight of earth and monsters
To hold them down
Only light, fluffy clouds
they soar through a forgiving blue sky.
Heading upward.
To joy and light.
Inbal Singer is a bi-lingual, proud Israeli-American artist living in sunny Beit Shemesh, Israel. Inbal’s art conveys themes of healing, growth and inspiration through natural elements.
