The Mercury

An ode to the mom dreading the storm

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I SUBMIT this for inclusion in the Letters to the Editor page. This is my response to the recent storms in our country.

“But Some Need To Hang Their Heads In Shame – A Sonnet After Rain”

We saw her on our television screen

Speaking a language most of us don’t know,

Talking of horrors – all by us unseen,

Horrors and suffering we hope not to undergo.

She spoke of poverty – worsened by the rain;

Her eyes portrayed an on-going despair.

Confronted by her grief, and by her pain

Most of us looked up and breathed a prayer.

The final words she spoke must still remain –

‘How can I send my kids to school’, she said

‘Without clean uniforms?’ She moaned in pain

From cracked shack door – inside – no warmth, no bed.

This image resonates – the ‘in’ buzzword.

‘Please,’ is our prayer, ‘let her voice be heard.’

PAM PAUL Durban

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