She races to my car

As our eyes meet from afar

Her pink dupatta drags itself on the road

Why does she carry this wave of hope?

 

I pray for the light to change

But she’s beside me right away

Before her dirty knuckles hit my sparkly windows

I break out in a burning rage

 

I fail to see her beautiful brown eyes

Nose pierced and tangled muddy hair

Why do I forget she’s just a child?

 

Her face dims slowly and she tilts her head

With each second she becomes obdurate

The tapping makes me uneasy

So I look away

Whose responsibility are they anyway?

I don’t know so I look away…

 

A few moments later

My eyes catch the sight of a child

He reminds me of Amir’s Hassan

Of a little Afghan child  

 

He adventures onto a donkey cart with his friend

Their backs resting against heaps of trash

Giggling eyes and a mischievous smile

Oh what a beautiful child

 

A smile so endearing fades away

When he sees me staring at him

Am I like the night?

That put an end to his game

I look away…

I’m scared so I look away…

 

Who are these children?

Where do they come from?

What have I done to not be in their place?

 

Why do I look at them with such contempt?

Whose responsibility are they anyway?

I don’t know…

So I look away

I am scared so I look away

 

I catch my own reflection

The mirror shows me guilty eyes

Are these not my own children?

Don’t they have dreams alike?

Why do I look away?

Oh what makes me so paralyzed?