I stumble upon the shattered road

The cries of war engulf me

Debris, dust, smoke… where is our home?

Piercing gun shots resonate near me

I resume... too entranced to turn away

Children cry and sob for their lost mothers

Women mourn for their vanished lovers

But I... I yearn for my home

Destruction

Ruination

Wreckage

Pain, sorrow, despair suffuses the air

Blood gathers in dispersing pools

I gaze upon my reflection in the deep murky redness

Tears stream down my disheveled face

Fear envelops me

Where is my home?

A fallen tree lay vulnerably on the devastated earth

I urge it to rise

To never surrender

To muster the lingering strength

And walk alongside me

To be my companion

To help me find my home

But it stays

Remains

Fallen

Crippled

Broken

I withdraw

Continuing

Staggering

Searching

For sense in all this confusion

For light in all the darkness

For pleasure in all the despair

For home in a civil war