“Sorry” by Janice D. Soderling

Ms. Soderling has just given out Picture This, a little diamond of a book.
A mere eleven ekphrastic poems are offered along with the picture inspiring each poem.
(An ekphrastic poem is about a work of art. Most often it is about a painting, photograph or sculpture, but it can be inspired by a musical composition, film, novel or even another poem.)

Here is the poem, Sorry from Picture This:
(To read another poem and read about Janice see bentarzbooks.com.)
_____

Sorry

When war comes to your country,
it will not just come to other towns than your town.
It will not just come to people you don’t like anyway.
Sorry.

When war comes to your country,
the milk you buy at your corner grocery store
will not be there for the buying.
It will never be on your breakfast table again.
Sorry. No breakfast table.

When war comes to your country,
your children will be crying on live television.
Sorry. Life isn’t always fair.

When war comes to your country,
it will bring you new knowledge.
Words which you never fully understood
will gain a deeper significance. Chlorine gas.
Barbed wire. Tear gas. Batons. Bread.
Sorry.

When war comes to your country,
when you flee with your family,
what should you take, what leave behind?
Family photos? Your new espresso machine?
No, be smart. Take bottled water,
a pan to cook in, soap, a towel,
band-aids for minor cuts and scratches.

When war comes to your country,
take sturdy walking shoes, woolen blankets.
Be prepared for a long wait. The borders are defended.

Sorry about any inconvenience.
___________

*

”Speaking truth to power is like preaching vegetarianism to wolves
whose teeth have evolved to bite into profits and whose stomachs
can’t tolerate grass roots.”
Dartwill Aquila

*

The West Bank is now the Judea-Samaria area.