Are You Taking Me to the Cemetery?

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‘Are you taking me to the cemetery?’

As a girl is pulled from the rubble
Her limbs feeling weak
her childhood in trouble

She asks the men who have dug her out
‘Am I dead or alive? How have you pulled me out?’

‘Are you taking me to the cemetery?’

One man replies ‘Dear child you are alive and as beautiful as the moon’
But who can calm her racing mind, she only thinks of all this doom.

Oh children of Palestine, if only you were not roaming alone on this torn and dusty street
Ducking from shooting guns, falling bombs and shrapnel under your feet.

If only you were holding your mother’s hands and asking…
‘Are you taking me to the the park? Or to play with pebbles on a calm beach?’
‘Are you taking me to school where I can giggle with my friends, and my teacher will teach?’
Are you bringing me home to your hot meal, your safety, your warm embrace, your soft speech?

Oh children of Palestine and the children of all conflicts around the world
We have stolen your childhood, and into adulthood we have you hurled

No child should ever ask… No child should ever ask..
The haunting question that we cannot mask

‘Are you taking me to the cemetery?’

‘Are you taking me to the cemetery?’

About the Author: Farhat Mahmood holds a bachelors in Economics with Honors from the University of Maryland. She has worked in the finance sector and IT web development field for 20 years. She currently serves in The Review of Religions as Assistant Manager, responsible for website development and online content.