A Mother’s Song in Masalay

A is for air becoming heavier to breathe day by day

B is for boys, the sons I haven’t seen for a long while

C is for calls I anticipate till dawn

D is for doors that used to be shut in the middle of the night

E is for equality, that which I always hear but never see

F is for fraternity, that which they promote

G is for gratitude they say I’m supposed to have

H is for husband; where is he now?

I is for invulnerability I wish my men have in combat

J is for jokes that never pull out laughs

K is for killing that now shocks me not the least

L is for love that perhaps I once felt in a dream

M is for massacre: killing on a larger scale

N is for nothing, all that I now possess

O is for over, the one thing I wish things would be

P is for peace that mocks me in my restless dreams

Q is for quintessence, the ironic disbelief I do have

R is for rhythm of the song the gunshots make

S is for sanity, an old friend I’d like to meet

T is for time that seems to slow down by the moment

U is for understanding that I’d like to have of what had gone by

V is for victory; who will have the last laugh—and when?

W is for waiting, what I’ve been doing and still will

X is for x-marks, representing hundreds crossed out

Y is for yearning, the faithful company I somehow wish would leave

Z is for the sound now defeated by my flowing tears late at night