Illustrated with my painting ‘Whom’ is a study of people in the grips of emotional trauma, courage and a will to go on in the face of adversity!

They Said

I saw the loss in their faces as they came to speak to us.

I saw the loss in their faces as they came to speak with us.
'we're dead inside', they said, 
but they didn't have to tell us we saw it in their eyes.

'our love was ripped from us' they said, one moment there, 
then gone. 'We knew' they said, before we were told, 'we knew'
Then the black veil fell.

'why did it have to be us', they said, 'to suffer for all 
eternity' our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, plucked 
from the wreckage never to return.

'the road was cleared, no trace of the carnage', 
but there for all to see in their faces. 
'The pain won't lessen', they said, 
so they spread their message, these angels of courage, 
trying to do their best.

'we want you to understand', they said, 'by sharing our words'
'we can bring our humanity together, like a shield', 
against the dead inside 
reaching out from their black shapeless veil


'only if it happened to you', they said 'would you understand'
'in the blink of an eye, the colour will shift to black'
so they talk from behind their veil 
in the hope of touching your soul.

I know mine was!!

by N. Lestas

17th September 2019