Them and Me
Sara Misra
(Stratford-upon-Avon)
There is a wall.
An invisible wall, impossible to break,
Between them and me.
Their voices barely filter through,
Not unlike a cacophony of crickets,
Echoing off a lonely room.
They thrive in it, in the energy, tension and noise,
While I would not survive an hour let alone years.
For me it is a battlefield
Each word a bullet, each word shrapnel,
Each word dangerous,
Each word an unexploded mine insidiously waiting for the trigger.
Bham. The war of words begins.
I am awkward in this world, in this war
Like a flower growing on a mine,
Will they let me in?
Will they make me choose sides?
Will they take my bullets to their heart?
The din increases as I am invited to talk.
It is time to fight,
Perhaps I might even win this time.
There is a wall.
An invisible wall,
A protective wal–