Torn

That night
You thought you took something from me
But it was just my body and seventy-five marka

I tore you too
I took a piece of your soul
And you won’t forget

Strangely, when I pulled it from my pocket
And looked at it
I understood that it was dying

And those who stood behind their doors
Silent
I stole bits of their souls too
And they won’t forget

But I want to tell you all
It’s okay
You can forget
I'm forgetting...slowly

I know what it’s like to scream
And nobody hears you
To know they’re there
But they can’t listen

Too many windows not to contain one human being
Was it fear that kept you voiceless
Did you somehow think i deserved that fate
Or could you just not feel at all

War is insidious
The way it bends the future
Creating armies of women and children
Torn

What is it like to go through life without compassion
Because you’ve lost too much
Seen too much
Felt too much

Oddly you don’t feel things
Like your forehead and limbs
Banging against the pavement
When it’s happening

You only even realize it’s happened
When you see the cuts on your face
And bruised arms
In the mirror

And you crawl to the bathroom
Because you can’t walk

People go mad and can’t come out the other side...

I know what it’s like to weep
And nobody hears you
To know they’re there
But it tears them apart to listen

...I came out the other side

Everyday I put you down
And I let you go
Because the alternative
Is apathy

You didn’t take anything from me
It was your own soul you violated
And those of the people who stood mute

Perhaps I merely borrowed your soul fragments
To cleanse them and love them
Until you can feel again

In the end
There were several victims that night in Sarajevo
But none of them were me