The other others

The other others
We looked in, in horror for a moment…
And for a brief moment we all seemed fully human…
Not half beast as we seem to be the rest of the time
…Seventy-five dead, five near dead… thousands waiting to die
... And no one was mourning…
In the stark light of the brief limelight…
The dead were like a magnet that held us all there…
…All together for once…
Captives for one whole moment…
No one dared to move away…
No one wanted to be the first to walk off
For one whole moment…
Then it dawned on me...
We only actually stopped to make sure it was not one of ours
One of us
And it only actually took a moment to establish
It was only them again…actually…
Then
Head count done…we all moved on
…Seventy-five others dead…
…With five more of them near dead
…And thousands more about to die…
…And still no one mourns….
They are others
Not ours
Not us
Them
Always
Them
The other others

Selam Kidane
09/09